Smoking and Asthma

• Smoke from cigars, cigarettes, and pipes

harms your body in many ways, but it is
especially harmful to the lungs of a person
with asthma.
• Tobacco smoke is a powerful trigger of
asthma symptoms.
How Does Tobacco Smoke Trigger Asthma?

• When a person inhales tobacco smoke, irritating

substances settle in the moist lining of the airways. These
substances can cause an attack in a person who has
asthma.

• In addition:
– Tobacco smoke damages tiny hair-like structures in the airways
called cilia.
– Normally, cilia sweep dust and mucus out of the airways.
– Tobacco smoke damages cilia so they are unable to work, allowing
dust and mucus to accumulate in the airways.

• Smoke also causes the lungs to make more mucus than

normal. As a result, even more mucus can build up in the
airways, triggering an attack.
 Is Second-Hand Smoke Harmful to a Person with
Asthma?
• Second-hand smoke is the combination of smoke from a
burning cigar or cigarette and smoke exhaled by a smoker.

• Inhaling second-hand smoke, also called "passive smoke"

may be even more harmful than actually smoking.

• Second-hand smoke is especially harmful to people who

already have asthma.

• When a person with asthma is exposed to second-hand

smoke, he or she is more likely to experience the
wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath associated
with asthma
 Can Smoking Harm My Child?

• Second-hand smoke harms children with asthma even

more than adults.

• When a child is exposed to tobacco smoke:

– his lungs become irritated
– produce more mucus than normal.
– Since children's airways are smaller, the side effects of second-
hand smoke affect them faster and can also affect lung function in
later life.

• Children of parents who smoke are also more likely to

develop lung and sinus infections. These infections can
make asthma symptoms worse and more difficult to
control.
Can Smoking Harm My Unborn Child? •

• Smoking harms an unborn child in many ways.

Nicotine, the addictive substance in tobacco
products, is carried through the mother's
bloodstream directly into the baby.
• Children of mothers who smoked during
pregnancy are more likely to have lung problems
and are 10 times more likely to develop asthma.

• Smoking during pregnancy has also been linked

with low-birth weight newborns, premature births,
and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
 Ways to reduce exposure to smoke

• If you smoke, quit for yourself and your children.

• If your spouse or other family members smoke, help them

understand the dangers of smoking and encourage them to
quit. Quitting is not always easy.

• Do not allow smoking in your home or your car.

• Do not permit your child's caregiver to smoke.

• Avoid restaurants and public places that permit smoking.

 How can I quit smoking?
• Hide your matches, lighters, and ashtrays.

• Whenever you get the urge to smoke, take a deep breath and hold it for
five to ten seconds.

• Don’t let others smoke in your home.

• Keep finger foods, like carrot sticks. Or, chew gum when you get the
urge to smoke.

• Stay active to keep your mind off smoking. Go for walks or read a
book.

• Join a support group or smoking cessation class.

• Talk to your doctor about nicotine replacement aids (gum, patch)

which can help when you are trying to quit.
A dialogue between a teen and
a physician
Dr: You’ve heard it all before, right? Smoking is bad
for you. Smoking can kill you. If you have asthma
it’s really bad. Because:

• 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.

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

• Teen: Because smoking won’t really hurt

me.

• DR: WRONG! Smoking causes more

deaths every year than fires, car crashes,
alcohol, cocaine, heroin, AIDS, murders and
suicides COMBINED. Sounds pretty
dangerous!
• Teen: I exercise so it doesn’t matter.

• Dr: 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.

• Teen: Tobacco is not a drug.

• Dr: 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.
• Teen: I’m not hurting anyone else.

• Dr: 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

• .
• Teen: I smoke because I choose to.

• Dr: 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 billion a year by
selling to and addicting a new generation of customers
– you!
• Teen: Because smoking keeps the weight off – I’ll
gain weight if I quit.

• Dr: 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.
– Try walking or exercising when you feel the urge to
smoke to help keep the weight gain down when you quit.
• Teen: Because smoking relaxes me.

• Dr: 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.

• Teen: ok I shall use spit tobacco – it’s safer.

• Dr: 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.
• Teen: Because it makes me look cool.

• Dr: 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.
• Teen: I’m young, I can stop when I’m older.

• Dr: 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.
• Final word to smoking asthmatics

“Infact, if you don’t stop

smoking, none of your
other effort will be as
effective as they could
be, and your asthma will
get worse”