The 2009 report, “Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Cardiovascular Effects: Making Sense of the Evidence,” published on October 15 2009, concludes that secondhand smoke exposure increases the risk of coronary heart disease and heart attacks; and that smoking bans reduce this risk.[break]
According to Dr. Minalma Pandey, cardiologist of Norvic Hospital in Kathmandu, “Passive smoking is the involuntary breathing of the smoke from cigarettes or tobacco that is being smoked by others. This smoke is also known as secondhand smoke (SHS).”
She added that the process of smoking produces three different types of tobacco smoke: mainstream smoke (smoke directly inhaled by the smoker through burning cigarette), exhaled mainstream smoke (smoke breathed out by the smoker), and side-stream smoke (smoke drifted from the burning end of cigarette).
“Side stream smoke is mixed with air before being inhaled. Passive smokers don’t receive the same concentration of toxic chemicals as active smokers, who draw the tobacco smoke directly into their lungs. This means active smoking is more dangerous to health than passive smoking,” added the doctor.
However, passive smokers exposed to high levels of side stream fumes have an increased risk of heart disease at 50 to 60%. In 30 minutes, the chemicals in tobacco smoke change the actions of blood vessels in non-smokers to a similar extent found in smokers. These effects and other changes to the blood vessels cause blood clots and inflammation, which may eventually lead to heart attack.
In addition, Dr. Pandey said that non-smokers have 20 to 30% risk of developing lung cancer than non-exposed non-smokers.
Equally importantly, she also points out that passive smoking can cause other dangerous health effects. The minor side effects of passive smoking are cough, sore throat, irritation of eyes, headache, nausea, infection in nose and ears.
Apart from these, there are several other long-term passive smoking effects which can lead to disability, and even death. They include lung cancer, asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis, tuberculosis, hypertension, and so on.
“The government has to bear double costs for diseased people if strict rules aren’t enforced to prohibit people from smoking in public places,” concluded Dr. Pandey.
Meena Sharma, 52, a housewife, said, “I like the idea of banning cigarettes from public places in order to avoid the risks of passive smoking. Smokers can help a lot in the prevention of passive smoking.”
Likewise, she even stressed that with the knowledge available today, it would make a person a very selfish and an inconsiderate fool if he or she smoked around their kids, and definitely in the house where kids live.
Another housewife, Gyanu Maiya Shrestha, 29, said that as she is pregnant, she has been suggested by her gynecologist not to stand or sit next to smokers because the chemicals from the tobacco smoke can be absorbed into her bloodstream and affect her unborn baby.
Also, she wants the government to take action and punish people for smoking at public places while knowing about the hazards of smoking.
“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” was a super hit of The Platters in the 1950s. Now it’s known that killer smoke – from tobacco and other sources – gets into other vital organs of the body as well.
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