Say No to tobacco

Today women comprise about 20 per cent of the world’s more than 1 billion smokers. The tobacco companies are targeting women by marketing light, mild, and menthol cigarettes, and introducing advertising directed at women. Both men and women who smoke are prone to cancer, heart disease and respiratory disease.

Tobacco also causes additional female-specific cancers and compromises pregnancy and reproductive health. Smoking puts them at risk for heart attacks; strokes; lung cancer; emphysema; and other serious chronic illnesses such as diabetes.

More than 170,000 American women die of diseases caused by smoking each year, with additional deaths coming from the use of other tobacco products such as smokeless tobacco.

According to a study 12.1 million women in India smoke and it is just behind the US. And it is found that an average male smokes 6.1 cigarettes, a day, while a woman smokes an average of 7 cigarettes per day! (The Quint)

Facts about smoking among women:
Smoking is directly responsible for 80 per cent of lung cancer deaths in women an estimated 70,700 women died of lung and bronchus cancer in the US.

In 1987, lung cancer surpassed breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths among women
From 1959 to 2010, the risk of developing lung cancer increased tenfold for women. This is thought to be at least partially due to the manipulation of cigarettes by tobacco companies.

Female smokers are nearly 22 times more likely to die from the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis, compared to women who never have smoked.
Women who smoke may develop more severe COPD earlier in life.

Women who smoke also have an increased risk of developing cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx (voice box), esophagus, pancreas, kidney, bladder and uterine cervix. They also double their risk of developing coronary heart disease.5

Postmenopausal women who smoke have lower bone density than women who never smoked. Women who smoke have an increased risk of hip fracture compared to never smokers. Cigarette smoking also causes skin wrinkling that could make smokers appear less attractive and prematurely old.

Women have been extensively targeted by tobacco marketing. These ads are dominated by themes associating cigarettes with social desirability, independence, weight control and having fun. Like most other advertisements, they often feature slim, attractive, and athletic models.

Some teenage girls start smoking to avoid weight gain and others to identify themselves as independent and glamorous, both of which reflect themes promoted by the tobacco industry. Dr Vimmi Bindra, a Gynaecologist, states that smoking makes it difficult for women to conceive and it is also a cause of infertility.

“During pregnancy the miscarriage rate is high; there may be problems with placental implantation because the baby’s food and oxygen go from the placenta which may cause pre-maturity, they may have low growth rate called Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR). Sometimes it causes birth defects due to excessive exposure to smoke through either active or passive smoking which also causes developmental defects.”