Not a smoker? You could still be at risk…

Non-smokers watch out… you are still smoking far too much! Not your cigarettes, but other people’s. Passive smoking is in fact very harmful to your health.

Cancer, heart attack, death – the picture is an extremely gloomy one. And whether you smoke or not, tobacco can still take its toll. It has now been scientifically proven that not smoking can still kill you! How? Well, someone who has never smoked a cigarette can, after 30 years of exposure to passive smoking, still be at risk of dying from smoking-related diseases.

Dr Paolo Boffetta of the WHO International Cancer Research Centre in Lyons has been working in this area for many years. He’s quite clear: long-term exposure to passive smoking increases the risk of lung cancer from 20% to 50%. Adults who have refused to smoke their whole life can still end up with grim consequences: aggravation of existing conditions, lung cancer, coronary accidents, etc. And for a child, the list is even longer still if both parents smoke: intrauterine growth retardation, low birth weight, respiratory infections, recurring otitis and asthma attacks.

In short, in societies such as ours, where the cigarette reigns supreme, nobody is safe from its harmful effects. So, a word of advice: if you find yourself in a smoky environment, get out … And take up the fight against smoking!