If you are serious about your health, fitness and general well being, you simply can’t afford to smoke. That isn’t a new message, of course. It has been known for 40 years or more that smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease and strokes. In fact, it is estimated that smoking is associated with more than 50 different diseases or disorders.
Recently, further scientific evidence has emerged to suggest that women may be at particular risk from smoking. This year, a Norwegian study of almost 2000 women showed that women were at a higher risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at a younger age, and after smoking less heavily, than men. COPD is an umbrella term that incorporates emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
COPD is characterised by shortness of breath and repetitive coughing with mucous, usually in the mornings. It gradually worsens if you don’t do anything about it. Simple daily activities become almost impossible. Eventually, you cant walk from the living room to the kitchen without stopping twice along the way to catch your breath.
Many people believe that a few cigarettes a day represent a minimal risk but there is no safe level of exposure to cigarette smoke, and this is particularly true for female smokers. This isn’t the first study that suggests that women may be more at risk from smoking than men. A 2005 Monash University study found that women were more susceptible to exposure to smoke than men. Researchers believe this could be because women have narrower and more sensitive airways than men.
A report by the British Lung Foundation in 2005 suggested it may be because women’s lung capacity is smaller, and population studies have also suggested that there may be a genetic element involved. This is why health campaigners are so concerned that more young women in their teens and 20s are starting and continuing to smoke than men.
COPD usually appears in people between the ages of 35 and 40, though increasingly, younger people are being diagnosed. The incidence of COPD is starting to plateau in men, but it is rising in women.
The reasons for women’s increased risk of lung disease have not yet been fully researched. According to NHS Direct in the UK, a gene that speeds up the growth of lung tumours is known to be more active in women.
The female hormone oestrogen is also known to affect the development of such tumours.
A conference on thoracic oncology in Switzerland earlier this year also found that women were more susceptible to tobacco carcinogens (cancer-causing substances), and a Spanish expert spoke of the growing awareness that smoking was, indeed, riskier for women. It is sometimes said that more women have an addictive gene that makes it harder for them to give up smoking. While men become physically addicted to nicotine, one of the most addictive substances, women tend to be more psychologically addicted.
The good news is that though COPD is not curable, you can stop the progress of the condition if you catch it early, so it’s important that it gets diagnosed. See your doctor if you have any of the symptoms.
By simply quitting smoking, at any age, and exercising, you ran halt the decline of COPD. Immunisation from disease and influenza is also important as any infection can easily spread to the lungs.
There is plenty of help out there for quitting smoking. There’s always nicotine-replacement therapy, which comes in the form of patches, tablets, gum or dummy cigarettes. Alternatively, you could try the complementary therapy approach with herbal cigarettes or hypnotherapy. Drugs such as Champix and Zyban are also available, but on prescription only – your doctor has to call for approval as there are various conditions which need to be met, such as ensuring the patient is enrolled in a support program.
Bill Lyon is a widely syndicated health writer who has recently researched cellulite lotions, including Revitol cellulite cream.