Secondhand Smoking and Lung Cancer

While it's clear that occasional exposure to secondhand smoke, perhaps once a month at a bar or restaurant, poses a very negligible risk of developing lung cancer, that is simply not the case for those who are constant exposed. Individuals who live or work with a smoker, and spend the majority of their day in the presence of smoke, are between 20 and 30 percent more likely to develop lung cancer than those who are not exposed to secondhand smoking at all.

Every year, the United States counts over 3,500 lung cancer deaths that were the fault of exposure to secondhand smoke. That's a staggering number of deaths for a group that simply does not actively smoke cigarettes.

Heart Disease Impacted by Secondhand Smoke

The heart is even more dramatically impacted by the effects of secondhand smoking. First and foremost, non-smokers who are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke are between 25 and 30 percent more likely to develop heart disease and experience cardiac problems than those who do not live in a smoke-filled environment. And in the United States, more than 46,000 people die prematurely each year of cardiac complications that arise from significant exposure to secondhand smoking.

Furthermore, exposure to consistently elevated levels of secondhand smoke increases the risk of heart attack. And even those who only occasionally experience secondhand smoke and that includes those who breathe in cigarette smoke while out in a public area,  are at greater risk for a heart attack at some point in their lives. This is because secondhand smoke has an immediate and detrimental effect on the heart's operation and the blood vessels throughout the body.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Effects on Children

Smoking by women while pregnant, as well a secondhand smoke inhalation during the same period, has been shown to dramatically increase the occurrence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in newborn infants. SIDS, as it is known, is when an infant dies within the first year of having been born. Those infants were shown to have dramatically elevated levels of nicotine in their lungs, and the chemicals in cigarette smoke have been shown to have a real impact on how the infant brain regulates the body.

For children exposed to secondhand smoke, the risk is not immediate death but the onset of chronic conditions like asthma that can dramatically reduce their quality of life. And asthma, of course, can also be fatal if treated inadequately or improperly. And, should children remain exposed to secondhand smoke, they're more likely to develop chronic wheezing and coughing. Children are also likely to get sick far more often in homes filled with secondhand smoke than those children who reside in a smoke-free environment.