Connection Between Smoking And Women's Health; Read Expert's Take

To improve public health and lessen the burden of smoking-related diseases, comprehensive policies and efforts to reduce smoking among women are consistently needed.

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American author, Dave Barry once said, “Cigarette sales would drop to zero overnight if the warning said, CIGARETTE CONTAINS FAT.” While everyone knows that tobacco products in any form when smoked or used orally, have multiple negative effects on human health, most of them are ignored. 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), smoking and oral tobacco use are the single greatest cause of preventable death globally. Yet, according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) conducted in 2016–17 in India, 28.6 percent of all adults currently consume tobacco either in smoked or smokeless form. This includes 42.4 percent of men, 14.2 percent of women above age 15, and 7.4 percent aged 13-15. This data tells us that most of the female smokers today belong to the teenage group, and smoking tobacco form is not limited to only cigarettes, as usage of hookas, cigars, and e-cigarettes is rampant as well. 

What are the health concerns for women smokers? 

No matter a person's gender, tobacco use can have a negative impact on their health in many ways, including the lungs, esophagus, heart, kidneys, pancreas, bladder, and any other organs that are left behind.  In this video, Dr. Sonamm Tiwari, a consultant in obstetrics and gynecology at Fortis Hiranandani Hospital, discusses the numerous ways smoking can affect the health of women. But smoking has a bigger impact on women's health, especially when it comes to mood disorders, monthly abnormalities, pelvic infections, menopause, and fertility.

Infertility: These days, women typically wait until their late 30s or early 40s to become pregnant for a variety of personal reasons, such as stable careers. Even for nonsmokers, the likelihood of becoming pregnant naturally declines after the age of thirty due to a variety of lifestyle, genetic, and age-related variables. Women who smoke have an increased chance of experiencing infertility in the future. Smoking affects the ovaries' reaction, changes the cervical mucus, and hinders the fallopian tubes' ability to peristalse. These changes can all have an impact on the rates of conception and implantation. Additionally, it has an impact on the DNA of both female eggs and male sperm. 

Pregnancy: Cigarette smoke contains chemicals that can pass the placenta, seriously endangering the unborn child. Certain harmful substances including cigarette smoke can alter an egg's or sperm's genetic makeup, increasing the chance of cancer, birth abnormalities, repeated miscarriages, and other health hazards for the unborn child. The risks of preterm birth, low birth weight, abrupt intrauterine death, and infant death syndrome are increased when a pregnant woman smokes. Research indicates that the offspring of smokers are more vulnerable to respiratory ailments and require more frequent physician visits. 

Birth control: Hormonal tablets are what are known as emergency contraceptives or 21-day birth control pills. They have varying amounts and types of progesterone and estrogen, which work in different ways to prevent conception. Research has shown that women who smoke and use oral contraceptives are more likely to get heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots. Women who smoke and are over 35 should not use oral contraceptives because the risk increases with age.

Early menopause: Smoking affects the ovaries, which results in hormonal imbalances in women. The ovaries of smokers mature three to four years before those of non-smokers. Estrogen shortage can result in irregular menstruation, irregular menstruation altogether, and abnormal bleeding when the ovaries age. According to research, women who smoke have a 43 percent higher chance than non-smokers of going through menopause before the age of 50. 

Mental health risks: According to reports, women who smoke are more likely to experience substance misuse, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and suicidal thoughts. Research indicates that women with mental or behavioral health conditions make up 40% of the smoking population. Additionally, the hallucinogenic effects of nicotine in cigarettes can obfuscate the signs of mental health issues, making diagnosis and treatment more challenging. Furthermore, it has been shown that women who suffer from any kind of mental illness or tobacco use find it difficult to give up. Additionally, women are more likely to gain weight when smoking, particularly when they are beginning or stopping their tobacco usage. Smoking-related morbidity and death are made worse by obesity, which can have a substantial long-term impact.

In conclusion, smoking has serious and intricate health repercussions on women. This calls for comprehensive tobacco control measures, targeted interventions, and increased awareness campaigns for women.