Tobacco
Using tobacco and tobacco-like products can harm every part of your body. Being exposed to second or third hand smoke affects your health and the health of those around you. It’s best to avoid all tobacco and tobacco-like products.
Using tobacco and tobacco-like products can harm every part of your body. Being exposed to second or third hand smoke affects your health and the health of those around you. It’s best to avoid all tobacco and tobacco-like products.
All tobacco and tobacco-like products are harmful. Tobacco is the only consumer product that will kill more than half of its regular users when it’s used as intended by the tobacco manufacturers.
Tobacco smoke has up to 7,000 different chemicals. Of those chemicals, at least 172 are toxic (poisonous), and about 70 are known to cause cancer.
Smokeless tobacco (moist snuff, dip or chew) and tobacco that’s used up the nose (dry snuff or snus) has over 3,000 chemicals. Of those, 28 are known to cause cancer. Snuff products have more nicotine than cigarettes. The average cigarette has 8.4 mg of nicotine; the average moist dip product has 14.5 mg of nicotine.
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are battery-powered vaporizers that use liquid vapour to deliver mist into the body (vaping). The mist is often a mixture of chemicals and sometimes contains nicotine. E-cigarettes contain at least 10 chemicals that are linked to cancer and birth defects. E-cigarettes could put you at risk of nicotine addiction and are not recommended as an aid to quitting tobacco.
Vaping can affect the people around you. The exhaled mist that comes from an e-cigarette or vaping device has a mixture of chemicals that are toxic. Although the toxins are lower than with tobacco smoke, it can still cause harm to you and your partner’s reproductive health.
To learn more about tobacco and tobacco-like products, go to AlbertaQuits.
Tobacco products can harm every part of your body.
Smoking is a major cause of heart disease. Heart disease affects how well your heart works and how well your blood moves through your body. Blood flow or heart problems can affect major organs like the kidneys or liver.
A woman who smokes as few as 4 cigarettes a day has 2 times the risk of heart disease as a woman who‘s never smoked.
Also, 8 out of 10 women who died of lung cancer were women who smoked.
People who have diabetes and smoke, risk death. Both diabetes and tobacco products affect the blood vessels, which can lead to problems getting oxygen into your body’s tissues.
Smoking tobacco damages the cells in the lungs. This can lead to developing conditions like COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) chronic bronchitis or emphysema. Other conditions such as asthma can get worse if someone smokes.
Women who smoke have higher rates of breast cancer.
They also are at higher risk for cancer of the:
Smokeless tobacco increases the risk of cancer, including cancer of the mouth, lips, tongue and esophagus.
Smokeless tobacco also increases the risk of cavities and gum disease.
Second-hand smoke, is the combination of smoke that comes from a burning tobacco product and smoke exhaled by a smoker. There is no safe amount of exposure to second hand smoke. It contains over 4000 chemicals and is known to cause cancer.
Adults exposed to second-hand smoke are at more risk of:
Second hand smoke in enclosed spaces such as a car, is very concentrated. To learn more about how to make your home and car smoke-free, click here.
Third-hand smoke is the residue and gases left behind after someone has smoked.
Third-hand smoke:
After someone smokes, third-hand smoke residue and gases may be on their clothes, skin and hair. Anyone touching these surfaces may get harmful chemicals on their skin. This can increase the risk of these chemicals causing harm to your health.
To reduce exposure to third-hand smoke:
To learn more, go to Make Your Car and Home Smoke-Free.
Talk with your health care provider about the best options for you. There are many types of resources and supports available to help you cut down and quit.
Your tobacco reduction plan is as unique as you are. AlbertaQuits is an Alberta Health Services program that provides free help and support to reduce or quit using tobacco products and stay quit. If you or your partner use tobacco products, learn how to prepare to become tobacco free.
Ready or Not contains a lot of information. So we created My To-Do List for you to use as a personal reminder, share with your partner, or bring to your next check-up.
Be sure to click “Add this to my To-Do List” anytime you see something you want to print, email, save, or share. Because we do not ask for any personal information, your list will only be saved for a week after your last added item.