Put out that cigarette immediately to protect women's health.
Not only does cigarette smoke harm the smoker themselves, but it also seeps into the breath, hair, skin, and even sleep of the women around them – silently destroying their health day by day. Many studies show that women are more severely affected by cigarette smoke than men.
According to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), currently, out of approximately 1 billion smokers worldwide, about 200 million are women.
Even more dangerous is the fact that passive smoking (exposure to tobacco smoke) causes approximately 600,000 deaths each year, with women accounting for about 64% of these deaths.
Numerous studies have shown that women affected by tobacco use have reduced fertility and a shorter reproductive lifespan. Pregnant women who smoke will directly affect their unborn child.
Accordingly, women who smoke during pregnancy have a 1.5 to 3.2 times higher risk of miscarriage compared to non-smokers. Smoking can also impair a woman's ability to maintain a pregnancy, and it has been observed that smoking women have a 2 to 4 times higher rate of ectopic pregnancy compared to non-smokers. Furthermore, statistics show that smoking women are also more prone to placental abruption and placenta previa, causing maternal bleeding and leading to fetal death.
According to the WHO, smoking and pregnancy are considered the most dangerous combination. The toxic chemicals in cigarettes harm both the fetus and the mother, as these substances are transmitted from mother to child through the bloodstream, affecting the child's health later in life and potentially causing birth defects.
Smoking during pregnancy can cause premature birth, weak and low-birth-weight babies, premature rupture of membranes, placenta previa, miscarriage, and stillbirth. Children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy will have the same high levels of nicotine in their blood as adult smokers.
Furthermore, smoking (including passive smoking) can cause infertility in women. Increasingly, studies show a significant decrease in ovulation and fertilization responses in smokers. Many toxic chemicals have been found that can cause genetic mutations leading to stillbirths, birth defects, cancer, and other future health concerns for children.
According to the WHO, women who smoke regularly are twice as likely to develop lung cancer and many other diseases as men, due to their weaker immune systems.
For women entering menopause, estrogen replacement therapy, which provides nourishment for the skin and musculoskeletal system, is becoming increasingly popular. However, this is even more dangerous for women who smoke, as they may face serious cardiovascular problems, stroke, and a higher risk of death when using estrogen therapy.
Each year, approximately 34,000 women die from heart disease and ischemic heart disease due to long-term smoking. Although most deaths occur in postmenopausal women, the risk of cardiovascular disease related to smoking is higher in younger women.
Smoking can also easily give women a yellowish complexion because cigarettes restrict blood and oxygen supply to the skin, causing premature aging.
For the reasons above, if you are a smoker, make a plan to quit smoking starting today.
