Smoking, Teens and Asthma

 You’ve heard it all before, right? Smoking is bad for you. Smoking can kill you. If you have asthma it’s really bad.  Why? 

• Cigarette smoke makes your asthma worse by irritating your airways and causing them to narrow.
• Teens who smoke are less likely to have that long-term improvement in their asthma, sometimes called “outgrowing,” than non-smokers.
• Smoking increases the risk of asthma attacks, and can permanently damage your airways – there is no cure for that!
• Smoking lines your lungs with tar, making them less efficient. That makes sports and exercise even harder.

   
In spite of all of that, the number of kids who smoke continues to go up. Why?

Because smoking won’t really hurt me.

WRONG!           Smoking causes more deaths every year than fires, car crashes, alcohol, cocaine, heroin, AIDS, murders and suicides COMBINED. Sounds pretty dangerous!

I exercise so it doesn’t matter.

WRONG!           No amount of exercise can take away the damage done by smoking cigarettes. In the U.S. each year 400,000 people die because of smoking, whether they exercised or not.

Tobacco is not a drug.

WRONG!           Nicotine, the stimulant in tobacco, is more addictive than cocaine or heroin. Cigarettes are the only product that when used exactly as intended causes addiction and disease and kills the customer.

I’m not hurting anyone else.

WRONG!           The dangers of second-hand smoke are well known. Second hand tobacco smoke is responsible for 3,000 cancer deaths each year, as well as 62,000 deaths from coronary artery disease. In addition, it is known to cause serious respiratory problems in children, including more severe asthma attacks and respiratory infections.

I smoke because I choose to.

WRONG!           Each year more than a million teenagers “choose to” become regular smokers. Nicotine is so highly addictive that if you choose to start, you will find it hard to “choose to” stop.  Tobacco companies are making $200 million a year by selling to and addicting a new generation of customers – you!

Because smoking keeps the weight off – I’ll gain weight if I quit.

WRONG!           Smoking doesn’t keep you slim. Gaining weight may occur when you quit cigarettes, but the small amount of weight you might gain is a lot less harmful than smoking.  Research tells us that a person would have to gain more than 100 pounds to equal the health risks of smoking two packs of cigarettes. Try walking or exercising when you feel the urge to smoke to help keep the weight gain down when you quit.

Because smoking relaxes me.

WRONG!           It may feel like it, but the nicotine in cigarettes is actually a stimulant. It speeds up your bodily functions and increases your heart rate.

I use spit tobacco – it’s  safer.

WRONG!           It has nicotine and is addictive, too.  It causes mouth cancer and gum and tooth problems. The majority of teens don’t want to date anyone who uses spit tobacco.

Because it makes me look cool.

WRONG!           Smokers have bad breath, their fingers and teeth can turn yellow and their faces get lined and wrinkled faster.  The cigarette companies spend more than $6 billion each year - $16 million every day and $11,000 every minute – on advertising and special promotions to make you believe it’s cool. 

I’m young, I can stop when I’m older.

WRONG!           Smoking is very addictive. The younger you are when you start, the harder it will be to stop when you’re older. Also, the younger you start, the greater the chance for disease.

I don’t smoke, but I live/work/hang out with someone who does!
It’s great you don’t smoke! Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that you’re safe. Breathing in other people’s smoke can be just as harmful to you as smoking yourself.  It can be really tough if a member of your family or your friends smoke. But if you have asthma, it’s very important to speak up and let people know their smoke can, or is, causing you problems.

Here are some ideas to help you ask people to stop smoking when you’re around:

• Tell them how you feel.
• Ask them not to smoke when you’re in their car, or while you’re eating together.
• Tell them how their smoking makes your asthma worse – they probably don’t even realize what they’re doing to you.
• Ask them to give up smoking, but remember that it is an addiction and this can be very hard. Some kids have found that it works to ask for their parents to quit smoking for their birthday present.  
• If they can’t give up, ask them to smoke outside instead.  

  Learn more about smoking and asthma by clicking here.

Adapted from GlaxoSmithKline materials and the American Lung Association’s Teens Against Tobacco Use materials.