Men and women are equally at risk from cigarette use. However, some of smoking’s negative effects, such as ectopic pregnancy and early menopause, solely affect females. The American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout will be held for the 22nd time on November 19. Here are some convincing arguments against continuing to smoke if you haven’t already done so.
A higher risk of developing cervical and rectal cancer is associated with smoking.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reports that smoking increases a woman’s risk of developing cervical cancer (ACOG). Premenopausal women who smoke are six times more likely to get esophageal cancer than nonsmokers, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute on April 21, 1999.
Period Pain From Cigarette Smoke
The ACOG reports that premenstrual symptoms are 50% more intense and cramps linger 2 days longer in women who get hemp cigarettes.
Smoking Destroys Fertility
Dr. Vicki Seltzer, VP of Women’s Health Services at North Shore-LongIsland Jewish Health System in New York, says smoking negatively impacts pregnancy at every stage. “A woman’s chances of ovulating and having a successful pregnancy are both lower if she smokes. The success rate of in vitro fertilization decreases when the patient is a smoker.” Nicotine, Seltzer argues, can prevent an egg from making its normal journey to the uterus, leading instead to an ectopic or tubal pregnancy, both of which are extremely dangerous.
Smoking Hurts Your Unborn Baby
Professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Harvard Medical School Benjamin Sachs states, “When you smoke green and wild hemp cigarettes during pregnancy, you harm the fetus.” Since fetal tissue is more susceptible to the toxic effects of carbon monoxide than adult tissue, and since nicotine increases heart rate when it crosses the placenta, smoking during pregnancy is dangerous for both mother and child.
A woman’s risk of miscarriage increases by 39% if she smokes during pregnancy, and her risk of placental abruption, placenta previa, and stillbirth also increases.
Smoking during pregnancy has been identified as a major risk factor for low birth weight in numerous studies. Suckling babies can absorb nicotine from their mothers’ breast milk. Infants who are exposed to tobacco smoke had approximately three times the risk of dying from SIDS, according to a study published in the Journal of Pediatrics in 1995.
Cigarettes Age You
It’s common knowledge that smokers age faster than nonsmokers do. Despite its obvious health risks, smoking can hasten menopause by as much as two years in certain women. A professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Sandra Carson, M.D., believes that nicotine “interferes with the blood supply to the ovary,” and that reducing blood supply to any organ reduces its function. Since estrogen is produced in the ovaries, Carson suggests that smoking may hasten the onset of menopause. Carson also notes that smoking can increase the risk of developing osteoporosis at a young age, as numerous studies have shown that cigarette smoking greatly decreases bone mineral density. If women are curious to get these kinds of products, she can try cbd beverages like delta 8 seltzer.
Cigarettes Consider Your Feelings
According to the NIH, a woman’s risk of having a heart attack increases by a factor of two to six if she is a smoker. The ACOG reports that smoking even one to four cigarettes daily increases the risk of cardiovascular disease by a factor of two to four. Furthermore, after the age of 65, female smokers had twice the risk of male smokers of having a heart attack, according to a study conducted in Finland and published in the British Medical Journal in July 1998. Scientists think estrogen, which smoking seems to reduce, protects women from heart disease.
Consider the impact that your actions will have on your daughter and other young women in your life. According to Wanda Jones, a spokesperson for the National Women’s Health Information Center, “the rate of high school females who are smoking is now at pace with that of boys.” In the words of one speaker, “This is not the kind of equality for women our mothers and grandparents envisioned.”