The Dangers of Second Hand Smoke!

Secondhand smoke is a mixture of the smoke exhaled by smokers and the smoke that
comes from the burning end of a cigarette, cigar, or pipe. You also may have
heard it called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), passive, or involuntary
smoke. Secondhand smoke contains more than 4,000 substances. Many of them are
dangerous poisons and can cause cancer. Anyone exposed to secondhand smoke
inhales these substances.

Lung disease, including lung cancer, is the third leading cause of death in
the U.S. Secondhand smoke:

• Can cause lung cancer in nonsmokers; the U.S. Environmental Protection
  Agency lists it as a Group A carcinogen, a rating used only for substances
  (i.e., asbestos) proven to cause cancer in humans .
  
• Will cause an estimated 3,000 lung cancer deaths this year.
  
• Can be a direct health threat to people who already have heart and lung
  diseases.
  
• Increases the risk of serious lung disease during the first two years of a
  child's life.

Did You Know?

• Nonsmokers who live with smokers are more likely to develop lung cancer
  than other nonsmoking adults.
  
• If you have asthma, secondhand smoke can make your breathing problems
  worse.
  
• Young children are especially sensitive to secondhand smoke. A baby who
  lives in a home where one or both parents smoke is more likely to have lung
  disease serious enough to need treatment in a hospital during the first two
  years of life.
  
• Children exposed to secondhand smoke in the home are more likely to cough
  and wheeze and to have middle ear problems.

How To Protect Your Family At Home

• Don't allow smoking in your home. Ask smokers to smoke outside or, if you
  must, limit smoking to a separately ventilated room.
  
• Be supportive. Help the smoker to quit.
  
• Place "Thank You for Not Smoking" signs around the house.
  
• Do not allow babysitters or others who work in your home to smoke in the
  house.

What If People Smoke Where You Work?

NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) has determined
that secondhand smoke may cause lung cancer in exposed workers.

• On-the-job exposure to secondhand smoke can be four times higher than in
  the home.
  
• Secondhand smoke can irritate your eyes, nose and throat.
  
• Some workers are already exposed to substances that can cause lung
  disease. Secondhand smoke in the workplace can only increase the danger.
  
• To protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke, the workplace must be totally
  smoke free or smoking must be limited to a separate, enclosed area with its
  own ventilation system. As of 1991, about 4 out of 10 American companies
  with smoking policies were smoke free.

A Special Message For Smokers

Smoke-free worksites can be tough on smokers. Here are some tips
for coping:

• In smoke free areas, do something to take your mind off smoking. Take a
  walk or stretch. Have a glass of water or a light snack.
  
• If you must smoke, make sure you are not in a "No Smoking" area
  before you light up and don't let cigarettes smolder in ashtrays.
  
• Try to quit smoking. See if your company offers any programs to help you
  quit or contact one of the organizations listed on the back of this booklet.

For more information, please visit the following MedicineNet.com areas:

• Smoking and Quitting Smoking


• Focus On Lungs

Source: www.cdc.gov

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=19930

Lung Cancer Hits Young, Non-Smoking Women

By ANDREA CANNING

Aug. 6, 2005 — In her West Bloomfield, Mich., home, Lisa Roffman wiped away tears as she read from a journal she keeps for her 9-year-old daughter, Leah.

"You are a special gift to the world," Roffman read. "You will always be alright. I love you so much. Love, Mommy."

At 44 years young, Roffman is preparing to die.

"There's a limited time period," she said. "There's a sadness and an urgency."

Two-and-a-half years ago, Roffman, a non-smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer and given less than five years to live.

"It was a complete and total shock," she said. "I certainly thought that it was going to be people who had smoked their whole lives. I always thought it was more men than women. I thought they were people who were 60 or older."

As the number of men with lung cancer declines, the American Cancer Society estimates that 73,020 women will die in the United States of lung cancer this year, more than those who will die from breast, ovarian and uterine cancers combined.


Ill Despite Healthy Lifestyle

While no national studies have yet been done, many lung cancer specialists say they're seeing a disturbing trend of more and more non-smoking women with the disease.

"Many of them have done an excellent job of taking care of themselves," said Dr. Joan Schiller, who specializes in lung cancer in non-smoking younger women at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. "They run. They eat right."

Ten percent to 15 percent of lung cancer victims are non-smokers. Among that group, women are two to three times more likely than men to get the disease. Doctors don't know why. Hormones, second-hand smoke, diet and air pollution all are believed to be factors.

Though lung cancer is deadlier to women than other types of cancer, breast cancer gets almost 10 times more research funding per death than lung cancer, Schiller said.

"These women are tragic victims of the fact that they have a disease that is associated with smoking," Schiller added.

Adding to the deadliness of lung cancer, the symptoms, which include shortness of breath and a chronic cough, often are misdiagnosed as asthma.

New Hope in Study, Drugs

Lately though, there is some hope.

In a search for answers, the National Cancer Institute has funded a grant to the Southwest Oncology Group, a cooperative research group of 283 institutions, to look at gender differences in smokers versus non-smokers with lung cancer. In what will be the largest study of its kind, researchers will look at tumor tissue and healthy tissue from men and women, smokers and non-smokers.

And in the more immediate term, doctors say non-smoking younger women are responding better than others to two new drugs — iressa and tarceva.

"There are certainly people whose cancer has gone away for years," Schiller said. "Will it last? We don't know.''

Iressa has stalled Roffman's cancer.

Tarceva is wiping out some tumors in Debbie Verhines of Saline, Mich.

"Oh, my gosh: I feel like it's given me my life back," Verhines said. "Yeah, it's a miracle drug."

Contemplating Life and Death

Verhines believes that aside from the drugs, conquering the disease is all in the attitude. As a show of strength she took off her wig.

"A lot of people haven't seen me bald," she said. "Hey, I can relate to people who are going through this. You can either have a happy illness or a sad illness, and I am going to have a happy illness."

The Roffmans understand that one day soon, Lisa may die. Her husband, Barry, contemplates life without her.

"I don't want to go in that room," he said. "I go right to the door and I don't open it. I just turn around and run the other way."

Every second is cherished as though it is the last. Lisa's daughter, Leah, prepares for her mom's death as the two share a kiss.

"Her soul and her spirit will always be with me," Leah said. "And her love."

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Health/story?id=1014929&page=1