Young Women ... Smoking

Young Women - The Dangers of Smoking

There is a serious rise in young women becoming smokers, more so than young men! My daughter became a smoker at a young age, what age, I suppose I'll never find out! She has now stopped and I am so thankful.

It is worrying that women become addicted to nicotine even if they smoke less or even smoke cigarettes with lower nicotine content and inhale less deeply.

The following are some of the problems associated with the dangers of young women smokers:

• Nicotine leads to greater lung function impairment for young women, and it is far more difficult for them to quit smoking.
• Smoking can interfere with normal menstruation and increasing the risk of pain and other irregularities.
• Women smokers will have more headaches, neck and stomach aches, shoulder pain, nausea, nervousness, restlessness and sleep problems compared to non-smokers.
• Heavy smoking has a depressive effect on the central nervous system which explains that anti-depressants help with nicotine addiction.
• Short of breath and wheezing when taking part in sports activities is apparent.

The above are but a few of the problems that may be caused by young women smoking. I omitted lung cancer as it doesn't seem to be a problem to a smoker's way of thinking (I am immune! It won't happen to me!)

Smoking and lung cancer go hand in hand particularly for those who start in early adolescence and is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women. During puberty and early adolescence young women are particularly sensitive to carcinogens.

Many girls report that they smoked their first cigarette before aged 13 and may suffer as a consequence from mood swings, hyperactivity, insecurity and interpersonal demands of young adulthood.

Smoking may even increase the risk to use drugs or lead on to substance abuse. Once addicted to nicotine the path has been eased for other addictions, and there are many of them on offer to young women.

Girls that smoke are generally less well behaved and are more susceptible to peer pressure and rejection. This could ultimately lead on to a more deviant group of peers. As a parent, I have experienced this sort of behaviour and it is not an experience I would like seen repeated.

Smoking may depress the appetite and in turn will affect the overall well-being of the smoker. It is said that girls who smoke eat less dairy products, fruit and vegetables but are inclined to eat more fast foods containing high-saturated fats. Couple that with an inclination to do less sports and exercise and you have an early recipe for bad health and even obesity.

It is known that the tolerance to nicotine and alcohol is lower in young women and are, therefore, more susceptible to the affects of them.

There's no easy way to help young women and girls to quit smoking or, in fact, for anyone to quit smoking. You will always get the stock answers from a smoker: It helps me relax, I'm not addicted, all my friends smoke, my great granny smokes!!

There are ways to help yourself and others to quit smoking, some really effective and some not. Smoking is an addiction and needs to be accepted and treated as such.