Toxic Risks of Passive Smoking (Essay Sample)

Toxic Risks of Passive Smoking
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Toxic Risks of Passive Smoking
Smoking is associated with various environmental and health risks that are detrimental to the wellbeing of an individual. These risks affect both the individual smoking and those in the immediate surroundings. The latter is known as passive smoking and has the same consequences as active smoking. The worse thing about passive smoking is that victims may not be aware of its dangers until they develop serious symptoms. Passive smoking is undesirable as it causes respiratory diseases, increases the rate of attracting heart diseases, and even worse prompts the chances of getting cancer.
Passive smoking, otherwise known as second hand smoking brings the same toxic risks as active smoking. The chances of developing respiratory ailments are very high among people who interact with heavy smokers. Popular among these diseases is asthma, which not only affects the adults, but also the young ones. Second hand smoke is believed to cause acute respiratory infections among children as young as one and half years old. The smoke in the air is also responsible for causing respiratory ailments notably bronchitis and pneumonia (Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), 2014). The immediate consequences of passive smoking are that many cases are reported and hospitalized thereby having a negative impact on people’s earnings. The situation gets even worse when the patient develops a heart condition.
Passive smoking increases the risks of attracting heart diseases, which may be as serious as cardiac malfunction. The combined elements present in tobacco smoke alter the normal flow of oxygen in the blood and this may lead to coronary heart diseases (Glantz & Parmley, 1995). In addition, tobacco smoke tends to damage the heart vessels whereby smoke deposits clog the arteries thus leading to a condition known as atherosclerosis. When the condition reaches a critical point, the patient may suffer from a mild form of heart attack. Glantz and Parmley (1995) continue to add that passive smokers have a 30% chance of attracting heart diseases due to their interaction with active smokers. This also increases the risk of getting cancer ailments.
Cancer of the lung is one of the most notable and serious condition necessitated by both active and passive smoking. The condition affects everyone within the proximity of active smokers whether it is pregnant women or young children. The Cancer Research Center in UK estimates that 3% of lung cancer cases in the country are because of passive smoking (Cancer Research UK, 2014). The treatment of lung cancer is very expensive and usually brings a lot of psychological and physical trauma to the patient. Apart from lung cancer, passive smoking is also associated with other types of cancer such as cervical cancer, breast cancer, and larynx cancer among others.
Tobacco smoke is dangerous to both the active and passive smokers. It contains toxic substances like carbon monoxide, which are detrimental to the health of an individual. Passive smokers are prone to attracting serious ailments that negatively affect their healt...