Smoke affects for Women

Women and Smoking



An epidemic of smoking-related cancer and disease in women

In March 2001, the Office of the US Surgeon General released a long-awaited, detailed report called Women and Smoking, along with this statement:

When calling attention to public health problems, we must not misuse the word "epidemic." But there is no better word to describe the 600-percent increase since 1950 in women’s death rates for lung cancer, a disease primarily caused by cigarette smoking. Clearly, smoking-related disease among women is a full-blown epidemic. -- David Satcher, MD, PhD

Smoking is the most preventable cause of early death in this country. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), smoking-related diseases caused the deaths of about 174,000 women in each year from 2000 to 2004. On average, these women died 14.5 years earlier because they smoked.

The most recent CDC survey (from 2007) showed that more than 1 in 6 American women aged 18 years or older (17%) smoked cigarettes. The highest rates were seen among American-Indian and Alaska-Native women (36%), followed by white (20%), African-American (16%), Hispanic (8%), and Asian women (4%). The less education a woman has, the more likely it is she will smoke. For instance, women with less than a high school education are more than twice as likely to smoke as college graduates.

Overall, women are less likely to smoke than men. But it has been found that smoking is more popular among younger than older women. This is an alarming trend that will affect the future health of these young women. About 20% of women ages 25 to 44 smoke; only about 8% of women 65 and over do. If these younger women continue to smoke as they get older, they will have more smoking-related illness and disability. Smoking rates are slightly lower among women aged 18 to 24, a little more than 19%.

Women who smoke nearly always begin as teenagers -- usually before high school graduation. And the younger a girl is when she starts, the more heavily she is likely to use tobacco as an adult. Teenage girls are just as likely to smoke as boys. The most recent CDC surveys showed that 19% of female high school students and 6% of middle school girls had smoked at least one cigarette in the past 30 days. More than 9% of 12th grade girls reported that they had smoked at least one cigar in the past month (see also Cigar Smoking). Nearly 29% of the senior girls had used some form of tobacco in the past month.

How can smoking affect your health?

Cancers
Tobacco use accounts for nearly 1 in 3 cancer deaths. Tens of thousands of women will die this year from lung cancer, which has shot past breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer death among women. Almost 90% of these deaths will be due to smoking.

Not only does smoking increase the risk for lung cancer, it's also a risk factor for other cancers:

* cervix
* mouth
* larynx (voice box)
* pharynx (throat)
* esophagus
* kidney
* bladder
* pancreas
* stomach

Smoking is also linked to some forms of leukemia.

Smoking raises your risk of heart disease and stroke

Women who smoke greatly increase their risk of heart disease (the leading killer among women) and stroke. Risk goes up with the number of cigarettes smoked and the length of time a woman has been smoking. Even though most of the women who die of heart disease are past menopause, smoking increases the risk more in younger women than in older women. Some studies suggest that smoking cigarettes increases the risk of heart disease even more among younger women who are also taking birth control pills.

Smoking damages your lungs

Smoking damages the airways and small air sacs in the lungs. It is related to chronic coughing and wheezing. More than 75% of deaths due to chronic bronchitis and emphysema -- together these are known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) -- are caused by smoking. The risk goes up both with the number of cigarettes smoked each day and with the length of time a woman has been smoking. Female smokers aged 35 or older are almost 13 times more likely to die from emphysema or bronchitis than those who don't smoke. Smoking "low tar" or "light" cigarettes does not reduce these risks, or any of the other health risks of tobacco.

The lungs grow more slowly in teenage girls who smoke. Adult women who smoke start losing lung function in early adulthood.

Smoking causes other health problems

Smoking can cause or worsen poor blood flow in the arms and legs (peripheral vascular disease or PVD.) This can limit everyday activities such as walking. Even worse, surgery to improve the blood flow often fails in people who keep smoking. Because of this, many doctors who operate on blood vessels (vascular surgeons) won't do certain surgeries on patients with PVD unless they stop smoking. Stopping smoking lowers the risk of PVD. In people who already have PVD, quitting smoking improves the odds that treatment will work.

Women who smoke, especially after going through menopause, have lower bone density (thinner bones) and a higher risk for broken bones, including hip fracture, than women who do not smoke. They may also be at higher risk for getting rheumatoid arthritis and cataracts (clouding of the lenses of the eyes), as well as age-related macular degeneration, which can cause blindness.

Smoking affects your reproductive health

Tobacco use can damage a woman's reproductive health. Women who smoke are more likely to have trouble getting pregnant. Smokers are younger at menopause than non-smokers and may have more unpleasant symptoms while going through menopause.

Smoking can also cause problems during pregnancy that can hurt both mother and baby. Smokers have a higher risk of the placenta (the organ that protects and nourishes the growing fetus) growing too close to the opening of the uterus. Smokers are also more likely to have early membrane ruptures and placentas that separate from the uterus too early. Bleeding, early delivery (premature birth), and emergency Caesarean section (C-section) may result from these problems. Smokers are more likely to have miscarriages and stillbirths, too.

Smoking can affect your baby’s health

First of all, up to 5% of infant deaths would be prevented if pregnant women did not smoke.

More than 10% of women smoke throughout their pregnancies -- some studies put the number at 16% or higher. Smoking is linked to an increased risk of early delivery and infant death. Research also suggests that infants of mothers who smoke during and after pregnancy are 2 to 3 times more likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) than babies born to non-smoking mothers. The risk of SIDS is somewhat less for infants whose mothers stop smoking during pregnancy, even if they start smoking again after delivery.

Of the women who are able to stop smoking during pregnancy, only 1 out of 3 stay quit a year after the delivery. But infants of non-smoking mothers have the lowest risk of SIDS.

Smoking during pregnancy causes low birth weight in at least 1 in 5 infants. Smoking during pregnancy slows fetal growth. This often causes babies to have health problems as a result of being born underweight. Women who stop smoking before they get pregnant reduce their risk of having a low birth weight baby to that of women who never smoked. Even women who quit during the first 3 to 4 months of pregnancy have much healthier babies than those who keep smoking.

Many women are able to quit smoking during early pregnancy. But women who have mood disorders, such as depression, often find it much harder to quit. Researchers have learned that between one-third and one-half of women who smoke during pregnancy have a mood disorder. It can be harder to treat pregnant women for depression, anxiety, or nicotine withdrawal with medicines because of concerns about the drugs hurting the fetus. Counseling or mental health therapy may help some of these women. If the woman is unable to quit smoking with therapy, she may want to talk with her doctor about medicines that she can take during pregnancy.

After a baby is born, some harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke can also be passed on through breast milk. This can affect a baby right away. For instance, infants who were breast-fed by mothers who smoked slept for a full half-hour less than when the mothers didn't smoke (this was measured over 3½ hours right after breast feeding).

If you managed to quit smoking while you were pregnant, don't pick up the habit again after the baby is born. When you find yourself tempted to start back, get help right away. And keep in mind that parents who smoke are more likely to have children who smoke. So if you stay quit your child stands a better chance of never starting.

Secondhand smoke can affect your children's health

Almost 3 million children in the United States under the age of 6 breathe secondhand smoke at home at least 4 days per week. Studies show that older children whose parents smoke get sick more often. Their lungs grow less then children who do not live around smokers. They have bronchitis and pneumonia more often. They cough and wheeze more. Smoking can also trigger a child's asthma attack. More than 40% of children who go to the emergency room for asthma live with smokers. A severe asthma attack can be deadly.

Children who live with parents who smoke also get more ear infections. This often causes fluid to build up in their ears and they may need surgery to have ear tubes placed for drainage. Some of these problems may seem small, but they add up quickly: think of the expenses, doctor visits, medicines, lost school time, and often lost work time for the parent who must take the child to the doctor. And this doesn't include the discomforts that the child must go through.

The Surgeon General's report: Secondhand smoke kills people who don't smoke, and makes others sick

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), also known as secondhand smoke, has also been shown to increase the risk of lung cancer. The 2006 Surgeon General's report on secondhand smoke stated that:

* Secondhand smoke causes premature death and disease in children and adults who
do not smoke.
* Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk for sudden
infant death syndrome (SIDS), respiratory infections, ear problems, and more
severe asthma. Smoking by parents causes breathing (respiratory) symptoms and
slows lung growth in their children.

* Secondhand smoke immediately affects the heart and blood circulation in a
harmful way. Over a longer time it also causes heart disease and lung cancer.
* The scientific evidence shows there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand
smoke.
* Many millions of Americans, both children and adults, are still exposed to
secondhand smoke in their homes and workplaces, even though there has been
a great deal of progress in tobacco control.

* The only way to fully protect non-smokers from exposure to secondhand smoke
indoors is to prevent all smoking in that indoor space or building.
Separating smokers from non-smokers, cleaning the air, and ventilatin
buildings cannot keep non-smokers from being exposed to secondhand smoke.

Kicking the habit

More than 75% of women say they want to quit smoking. Almost half report having tried to quit in the past year. The chance of quitting and staying quit is about the same for both men and women, although there may be some ways women are different (see the section below, "Differences between women and men").

Quitting can help reduce the risk of many of the health effects listed above. The risk of heart disease is greatly reduced just 1 to 2 years after quitting. The risk of stroke returns to normal 10 to 15 years after quitting.

Many women are afraid to quit for fear of gaining weight. Some women who quit smoking do add a few pounds, mostly in the first year. Although figures vary, women gain an average of around 10 pounds after quitting. This amount of weight gain can usually be controlled through diet and exercise. But the health benefits of quitting are much greater than any problems posed by a small weight gain.

Differences between women and men

Some studies have shown there may be differences in men and women who are trying to quit smoking. A few studies, for instance, found that nicotine replacement therapies seemed to help men more than women. Studies of other medicines, such as bupropion (Zyban®) and varenicline (Chantix®) have not found such a difference -- men and women had the same success rates. Some of these studies used counseling or group support, which seemed to help both men and women quit and stay quit.

There is also a question about how monthly hormone changes can affect pre-menopausal women as they are quitting smoking. Studies have been mixed about whether it works better for women to try and quit during the first or last parts of their menstrual cycles. Most of the studies seem to support the idea that women may have stronger urges to smoke just before their menstrual periods are due to start. This is about the same time women may have pre-menstrual symptoms. Because of this, some experts recommend that women quit smoking after the pre-menstrual symptoms have passed. If you choose to do this, you may want to make a plan to deal with any pre-menstrual urges to smoke that may show up 2 or 3 weeks later.

Source : www.cancer.org

Pregnancy (older women)

When it comes to pregnancy, age is important and can affect the nature of your experience. Ann Bracken outlines the implications of pregnancy in the post 35 maternal age group.


Compared to our grandmothers’ generation, today’s thirty and forty-somethings look and feel so young and healthy that, it is difficult to remember that their reproductive life-span is just as short as it was one hundred or one thousand years ago. 30 years ago, the average age of new mothers was 26. Now it is 30 and climbing rapidly.

Conceiving a baby, especially when longed for, is usually the most special time of a woman’s life. The miracle of a newborn melts hearts of all ages, male and female. Since the beginning of time, the arrival of a small infant has been as wonderful and natural as changes in the seasons. However, nowadays this natural wonder may also require a high level of planning to ensure that when junior arrives there is room in the manger and a roof overhead!

Planning for the ‘right’ time to have a baby is a relatively new concept in Ireland and this has been reflected in a significant increase in the age of women giving birth here, over the past 15 years; from 29 to 32 within marriage and 22 to 26 outside of marriage. This may be as a result of ever increasing mortgage replayments and an escalation in the cost of living, or resulting from an expanding number of life choices for women - we now live in a world where choosing to be a mother is an option and not a privilege.

Diagnostic Screening Tests

The problem is that postponing parenthood has its risks. There are factors to consider if a woman is wishing to achieve a pregnancy, later in life. Age is a factor in certain foetal abnormalities and there are higher rates of maternal diabetes, placental insufficiency, high blood pressure, or of having a Down’s Syndrome baby if the mother is older. The mother may have more to carry than the fact she is pregnant - with certain tests being required, the anxiety of these tests may outway the excitement of the pregnancy at times.

Unfortunately, human beings, as a species, are not very fertile. Even young couples with normal fertility (and trying quite hard) have only a 25 – 30% chance of establishing a pregnancy each month they try. When a woman reaches her mid-30’s, this monthly chance drops to 10 – 15%. By her early 40’s it is less than 5% a month AND she is facing a 40% chance of miscarriage even if she can achieve a positive pregnancy test. If there are other factors influencing a couples’ chance of success such as irregular ovulation or poor sperm parameters, the chance is even lower. In addition, the risk of chromosome abnormalities such as Down’s syndrome increases very rapidly from 37 years onwards.

Since fertility is to a large extent genetically inherited, a woman can get a good idea of her likely reproductive prospects by finding out about her mother’s experience. If her mother had difficulty getting pregnant after her late twenties and had a relatively early menopause (younger than 45 – 50years) there is a chance that her daughter may experience similar problems. Women whose mothers and grandmothers had babies effortlessly in their late thirties or early forties may be reassured that they will probably be able to do the same.

Screening tests for women over the age of 37 are offered to determine any abnormality in the foetus with particular focus on testing for Down’s Syndrome, due to the increased risk of chromosomal abnormality in older women. The risk of having a baby with this condition rises with advancing maternal age, from a 0.4 chance at the age of 20 to 3.1 chance at 35, and 10.5 chance at 40 years of age. The statistics show that 1 in every 2,000 babies born are Down’s babies.

The first screening test for women over 35 is the Nuchal scan. This ultrasound scan assesses the foetus at between 11-13 weeks. If a shadow of a particular size and shape is present at the back of the foetus neck, this can indicate a higher risk of chromosome defects such as Down’s Syndrome. If the test indicates a probability, amniocentesis will be offered to confirm the diagnosis.

Amniocentesis is the process which removes a sample of amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby in the uterus when the pregnancy is between 15-20 weeks. However, as this test can carry a risk of miscarrige, careful consideration and even counselling may be advised in advance of taking the test.

What needs to be considered by each mother is what they would do with the information that the specialist tests will provide. Will this information be reassuring - or will it put enormous emotional strain on the mother and indeed father to be? Regardless of whether the tests are advised and taken, pre-natel care is particularly important for women of advancing age.

Also, for women who are planning a pregnancy later in life, it is important that they adopt a healthy lifestyle – A good diet, exercise and relaxation time all need to be incorporated into daily life, to increase their potential for a healthy pregnancy.

Although, there may be risks to the higher age group women, the reality is that most women have healthy pregnancies and babies.

TIPS FOR THE OLDER WOMAN CONSIDERING PREGNANCY

Avoiding alcohol and smoking will promote your health and the health of your baby.

Proper pre-natal care will optimize your chances of having a healthy baby.

When choosing an antenatal clinic, discuss your preferences and find out what options are available to you – age may be a factor in some delivery options, i.e. homebirths. Do some research into the philosophy or practice of the particular ante-natel support you are choosing.

Begin taking a prenatal vitamin. Ensure you choose a vitamin especially for pregnancy, as this will contain the correct amount of folic acid and will not contain Vitamin A which is not recommended to take during pregnancy.
Health and lifestyle factors play an important role in influencing a woman’s natural fertility

Smoking is probably the single most significant factor — women who are life-time smokers will undergo their menopause at least two years ahead of schedule and will become sub-fertile sooner and have a higher risk of miscarriage.

Women who are significantly below or above their ideal weight are also at a higher risk of fertility problems and/or pregnancy complications.

Women who have had pelvic surgery, endometriosis or recurrent pelvic infections also seem to have a lower chance of successful pregnancy, probably because their store of viable eggs is reduced.

Clearly, a nutritious diet, adequate but not excessive exercise and a healthy, low-stress lifestyle are all conducive to good fertility – but it is generally recognised that trying to get pregnant and repeatedly ‘failing’ can drive even ‘health-nuts’ to booze and cigarettes!

Fertility treatments

Intra-Uterine Insemination

Some women trying to conceive later in life may be helped by fertility treatments such as Intra-uterine Insemination (IUI) in conjunction with ovarian stimulation. Stimulated IUI is a treatment designed to enhance a couple's natural fertility without resorting to 'high-tech' treatments.

The woman undergoes stimulation with gonadotrophins (hormone injections) to encourage 2 eggs to mature. Throughout the drug phase, treatment is monitored by ultrasound and when the follicles are ready, a final injection of hCG is given to provoke ovulation.

Approximately 30 – 40 hrs later, specially prepared sperm (ideally 5 million, highly active sperm) are inserted through the cervix in a fine plastic tube and deposited high up in the uterus, near to the opening of the Fallopian tubes. Putting very good sperm in exactly the right place at the right time boosts natural fertility. Success rates with stimulated IUI are typically 10 – 15% per cycle.

In-Vitro fertilisation

Many women in their late thirties or early forties choose to have IVF treatment even if there is no apparent explanation for their failure to conceive other than their age. IVF is recognised to be an effective (and diagnostic) treatment for this so-called ‘unexplained’ infertility. Women in this age range are also acutely aware that their biological clocks are running down very fast and they cannot risk waiting (or wasting!) another 6 months to ‘give Mother Nature another chance’ since success rates of fertility treatments such as IVF depend on the age of the woman concerned.

The success rates for IVF (approximately 25% per cycle for women under 40 and 15% per cycle for 40+) depend upon a woman having good ‘ovarian reserve’, that is being able to recruit a good number of ovarian follicles in response to the stimulating drugs used in IVF. Assessing ovarian reserve is therefore a very important part of counselling a couple about their individual chances of success with ‘high-tech’ fertility treatments such as IVF. Age, past medical history, FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) levels and ovarian scan results all provide useful information for predicting the likely chance of success with treatments such as IVF. In addition, some fertility specialists are now advising women to have their inhibin B level assessed. This simple blood test, (taken during day 3-6 of the menstrual cycle), provides a direct measurement of ovarian reserve.

The future It is now possible to freeze human eggs and then thaw them and use them to generate embryos for transfer in an IVF cycle. At the moment this technology is mainly used to help young women who are facing a diagnosis of cancer.


Lifesaving chemotherapy or radiotherapy will probably render them sterile and the technique of egg freezing allows them to ‘bank’ their oocytes (eggs) for later use, so that they have a chance of giving birth to their own genetic children.

This same technology could be applied to allow young women who were not yet in a position to become pregnant to store their eggs for use later when they wished to start a family. Clearly this new approach to ‘family planning’ may meet with some resistance. For future generations though, it could offer a solution to the ‘career women’s’ dilemma about when to start a family.

Source : www.hlaw.ie

Identifying the early sign of menopause

Women that observe first symptoms of menopause will also notice that such symptoms are very much like those of early pregnancy and so it behooves them to take the advice of a doctor to find out what such symptoms really are since that will help find out whether something serious is amiss with you.

Perhaps one of the most significant early signs of menopause is the hot flashes which can cause you to sweat
at night or even during the day when everyone else is comfortable or even cold. These hot flashes may or may not be accompanied by red blotchy skin, flushed skin or even a prickly kind of heat.

Hot flashes, one of the first signs of menopause, are also the most joked about of all the symptoms of this biological change. As many as seventy-five to eighty percent of all women experience this uncomfortable feeling which can last as short as thirty seconds or as long at thirty minutes or more. The average time for a hot flash moment is about five to ten minutes for these first signs of menopause. These hot flashes can be a warm flushing sensation on your face and upper body or it can present themselves as red blotchy skin.

A paradigm shift in your thinking about sex is among the first signs of menopause as well and those thoughts can go either way. Some women lose desire to have sex and it is coupled with vaginal dryness and lack of arousal. However, other women may feel sexier and enjoy it more, even with the physical symptoms like the vaginal dryness which can be aided by a number of lubricants on the market today.

Countless problems with your bladder and vagina are also among your first signs of menopause as your hormone levels fluctuate. The vaginal dryness may be an issue and sex could become painful as the skin thins out and surrounding areas becoming more sensitized. In addition, urinary problems count as some of the first signs of menopause due to that same thinning of the skin, in this case, the bladder. Some muscle tone in the bladder may be lost as well due to hormonal changes attributed to menopause.

The first signs of menopause are quite a bit to handle but many of them gradually present themselves as a way to ease into the transition. These signs can also include mood swings, fatigue, sleeping problems and even changes in your body like not being able to lose weight as easily as you once could.

Less frequent early menopause symptoms include headaches due to these hormonal changes as well as problems with memory. Even aching in the joints and muscles can be considered part of the menopausal arsenal of symptoms. If you are not quite at that stage in life to be experiencing those first signs of menopause, get ready for it. You may not develop all of them but chances are that there will be some that have your name on them.

Source : guidetohealthyliving.com