The Effects of Environmental Tobacco Smoke Among Children with Asthma

Imagine yourself sitting down to dinner at a restaurant. You are sitting down trying to enjoy your dinner when all you can smell is smoke. Not only are you just breathing in the smoke, it is also damaging your body at the same time. Or imagine yourself at your work place, whether it be a restaurant or office, and you are forced to breathe in second-hand smoke the entire time you are there. In this paper you will be informed of the harmful effects of second-hand smoke, and why smoking should be banned from all public places.

Diseases caused by the effects of smoking or second hand smoke may lead to emphysema. To start, even after only a few years of smoking, one’s lungs could be affected for the rest of his/her life. Making reference to the issue, “If exposure to cigarette advertising is a risk factor for disease, it is incumbent on the public and elected officials to deal with it as we would the vector of any other pathogen” (Sullum).

There are issues that been found and need to be addressed. There have been concerns

For today’s analysis, the author has chosen the subject matter of school-aged children that experiences asthma. Asthma is a silent killer; the mortality rate is on the rise. Asthma is a chronic condition that hits home for the author and family. The author’s daughter has chronic asthma and environmental factors advance her symptoms. Other times when the air quality is cleaner, her daughter’s asthma symptoms go into remission. Many adults are unaware of the risks from the first and second-hand smoke. For example, in the author’s previous home, second-hand smoking triggered her daughter’s asthma attacks. As a result, the author lost countless homework hours and dollars because her daughter required

Mediation measures, for example, encasing sleeping pads and cushions with dust parasite impermeable cases, evacuating rugs, and more incessant cleaning of garments, floors, and upholstered furniture can lessen introduction of conceivably harmful contaminants inside the home (Wu, F., & Takaro, T. 2007). Humid conditions within the home are breeding grounds for mold, so having a dehumidifier and frequently replacing the filters can greatly prevent mold from forming. It is extremely pertinent to express to parents the dangers smoking can have not only to themselves, but also the harm of inhaling second hand smoke. According to the CDC, tobacco smoke-including secondhand smoke- is one of the most common asthma triggers and about 40% of children who go to the emergency room for asthma live with smokers (CDC, 2006). Pamphlets about these triggers and interventions will be handed out at both the educational seminars and on the mobile health vehicle. As a team we will encourage keeping these posted within the classrooms and within the family

To begin, exposure to passive smoke as a child harms the function of the respiratory system by causing illnesses to develop in the lungs during childhood. Children who were exposed to passive smoke are highly prone to develop respiratory illnesses. For instance, asthma is one of the most common illness caused by exposure to passive smoke. Studies show that there is an increased risk of asthma in children associated with maternal passive smoke exposure by 20% to 85% (Burke et al, 2012). Through these statistics, we can quantitatively show how harmful exposure of particles from tobacco smoke is to the lungs of children and the possibility of developing asthma at childhood from passive exposure through the mother. Asthma is a respiratory condition resulting from particles in the bronchi of the lungs leading to breathing difficulty, whereby causing an inflammation of the air passages in the lungs due to particles affecting sensitivity of nerve endings (Asthma Society of Canada, 2015.) Particles such as nicotine from tobacco affect the sensitivity of the nerve ending in the airway leading to irritability resulting in buildup of mucus in airway. These particles easily pass through our passage way ,because they damage the mucus lining, so they are not easily blocked, which is why they enter into the lungs causing irritation triggering an asthma attack. While examining 133,800 to 161,600 asthma related cases, it was found that children during early childhood from two months to five

Not only does secondhand smoke harm people physically, public smoking is an extremely negative influence for child development and the development of the world as a whole. Around six thousand students in the country of Africa were included in the Global Youth Tobacco Survey to get an overall understanding to how many non-smoking adolescents (11-18 yrs) are around the harsh chemicals of SHS. The survey concluded that 34.2% of the students were exposed to SHS outside of the home. The amount of students already affected with the health consequences of cigarette smoke is wistfully significant.

In the past few decades extensive research has gone into studying the effects of cigarettes on air quality. Many carcinogens and particulate matter (PM) exist in the second-hand smoke. The results from these studies have led to anti-smoking campaigns across the country; consequently changing the cultural acceptance of smoking into a cultural taboo. Not only did smoking affect the health of the consumer but conventional cigarettes also spewed several toxic chemicals into the environment that affected other people’s health. The environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) has been associated with cardiovascular problems, asthma, respiratory infections, and lung cancer. Consequently, this has led to the ban of smoking in many public places like public buildings, bars, and restaurants (Schober et al.). Unfortunately, the nicotine in cigarettes makes this product very addictive and for several years many people wondered if a product could be invented that simulated smoking but without all the chemicals.

From a personal perspective, my two sons were both diagnosed with asthma as young children; one outgrew it and the other one, now age 23, still has this health condition. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published a fact sheet, “Thirdhand smoke: A Threat to Child Health”. This fact sheet outlines the dangers of THS to children, pregnant women (causes low birth rates), and the elderly and even animals. It contains statistical data, dos and don’ts and preventative courses of action for parents, smokers and nonsmokers, to reduce or eliminate exposure to those most vulnerable to the effects of thirdhand smoke.

Tobacco is one of the prominent sources known to trigger cancer, respiratory, cardiovascular diseases and death internationally. Involuntary exposure to a combination of cigarette smoke and the exhaled smoke from smokers is considered as Second-hand smoke (SHS), which is inhaled by everyone and is also responsible to cause harmful effects on health. Tobacco smoke constitutes thousands of toxic chemicals, even though it is a known fact that some of these toxic chemicals can cause cancer, people smoke anyway. Exposure to second-hand smoke is a major concern in public places and at home since it can cause various health issues in infants, children, and adults.

It is expected that after direct exposure to same amount of nicotine from tobacco or e-cigarette, similar effects will be observed, as most e-cigarettes deliver the same quantities of nicotine as conventional cigarettes do, due to modifications by the users. Surprisingly, some studies revealed that not all biological markers are changed in the same manner in both cases, for instance Chorti et al.(2012) represented that use of e-cigarette will not affect lung function at all whereas usage of tobacco does {Chorti, 2012 #213} Controversially, Vardavas et al (2012) concluded that use of nicotine containing e-cigarette will increase respiratory impedance and respiratory flow resistance but in less harmful manner than after smoking tobacco {Vardavas, 2012 #210}. These variabilities may be due to different brands of e-cigarettes, nicotine levels or exposure patterns, which is another obstacle we face in the evaluation of e-cigarettes safety

There is an irrefutable correlation between the increasing effects of secondhand smoke on the health and well being of human beings that are constantly in the vicinity of smokers. Evidently, secondhand smoking has undeniably become problematic for a plethora of intense, health-altering reasons that include but are not limited to diseases and early death that are caused to nonsmokers by secondhand exposure from the burning of tobacco. Even the smallest, briefest amount of secondhand exposure causes immediate health implications. Laws that prohibit smoking in public places have been proven to directly improve the health of people in those areas. Secondhand smoking causes an increased risk for heart disease, stroke, SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), asthma, and lung cancer. Annually, over 45,000 nonsmokers die from implications brought about by secondhand smoking. 34,000 of these deaths are deaths from heart disease, 8,000 from stroke, and 7,300 from lung cancer. People of lower socioeconomic status are much more likely to smoke which therefore puts minorities at a higher

One of the studies was done by Michael Weitzman and his colleagues in 1989 to examine the association between maternal smoking and childhood asthma. (2) They analyzed data from National Health interview survey. Maternal smoking not only increase the risk of developing asthma but also increase the risk of hospitalizations in children with using multivariate logistic regressions. (2) Other study done by Lashner and his colleagues in Illinois, examined the association between passive smoking and risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease in children. (3) They examined children who are exposed to the passive smoking and children who are not. They found passive smoking exposure and maternal smoking increase the risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease in children. (3) The children who were exposed to passive smoking had a symptom

Secondhand smoking causes many defects for children as they grow up. As parents of young children smoke in the car, these children are exposed to this secondhand smoke frequently. According to Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "Secondhand smoke causes numerous health problems in infants and children, including more frequent and severe asthma attacks, respiratory infections, ear infection, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)." As these children group up, the health problems resulting from the secondhand smoke exposure affects their lifestyle and future.

According to Source A, the public health risk highlighted is second hand smoke (SHS). In the picture, since the smokers, who are the parents, are smoking in the public area, thus lead to the people around them, who are their children, unavoidably inhale the SHS. They look very bitter and they have to wear masks to avoid the SHS. Thus, lead to poor respiratory health of both smokers and the surrounding people and increase the risk of getting respiratory disease, which add burden to the medical system in Hong Kong. Therefore, to sum up, the public health risk highlighted is second hand smoke (SHS).