Tobacco use is increasing enormously. For women, smoking has become a major health issue.
Smoking tobacco in whatever form—manufactured cigarettes, bidis, water pipes, smokeless tobacco, traditional hand-rolled flavoured cigarettes—can have negative impacts on health. Reverse cigarette smoking is also a form of tobacco use.
In comparison to women who don’t smoke, smoking increases the chance of death in women
Women’s reproductive health is affected by smoking.
Smokers are more likely to experience difficulties getting pregnant, both during and after their first pregnancy. Moreover, smoking can delay conception.
Women who get pregnant and have been smoking.
have an increased risk of premature rupture of membranes.
- increased risk of bleeding between the placenta and the uterine wall which can lead to an emergency.
- increases the risk of placenta previa which is partial or total obstruction of the opening of the cervix by the Placenta.
- increases the risk of preterm delivery.
Children who are born to women who smoke have a high chance of being smaller than the average birth weight of their peers and they are at an increased risk of stillbirth and perinatal mortality.
Children born to smokers have a significant likelihood of being lower than their peers’ typical birth weights and are more likely to experience stillbirth and perinatal mortality.
Smoking is likely to affect breastfeeding and shorten the duration and quantity of milk.
Women who use oral contraceptives plus smoke have a higher risk of developing coronary artery disease than women who use oral contraceptives alone. As a result, it is typically suggested that women who use oral contraceptives quit smoking.
Women who smoke are more likely to get really painful periods. Menopausal symptoms are more likely to be frequent and severe in them. In comparison to women who don’t smoke, they are also more likely to enter menopause one or two years earlier.
Women who smoke have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, such as coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, paralysis, and stroke. In actuality, one of the main factors contributing to coronary artery disease in women is smoking.
The lungs are affected by smoking. It is a significant risk factor for lung cancer. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which includes chronic bronchitis, is more likely to affect women who smoke.
In addition to raising the risk of lung cancer, smoking also affects other cancers such as those of the mouth, throat, oesophagus, bladder, pancreas, kidney, and cervix. Some evidence indicates that it may also raise the risk of breast cancer.
Smoking does affect bone density, and it puts post-menopausal women at higher risk for fractures than non-smokers do.
Why Should I Quit Smoking?
There are a lot of benefits to the cessation of smoking.
- Women who quit smoking experience a remarkable reduction in various disease risk factors.
- Cessation of smoking by the first trimester of pregnancy in itself can improve the weight of the Infant to be born.
- Within one or two years of cessation of smoking one can reduce the risk of coronary artery disease by almost 25 to 50%.
- The risk of stroke and paralysis also reduces.
- We strongly recommend that you consider cessation of smoking and feel the benefits.
- If you need help to stop smoking, then a lot of it is available. So, seek help and get yourself a healthier life.
Dr. Suchita Deshmukh is a very well-known and experienced Obstetricians and Gynecologist in Nashik. She has done her MBBS from the prestigious B.J Medical College and Sasson Hospital, Pune and her MD in Obstetrics and Gynecology from B.Y.L Nair Hospital, Mumbai.
She has a special interest in infertility management, laparoscopic and hysteroscopic management of gynecological diseases, management of high-risk obstetrics cases, diagnosis and management of genital tract cancer, adolescent gynecological problems, and menopausal health issues.