Lisa Boulton

By Lisa Boulton lisaboulton

Everyone knows that smoking is a harmful pastime; but are you a non-smoker who lives with a smoker, travels in a car with a smoker or is exposed to second or third hand smoke in another way? Then your health is at risk.

What is secondhand smoke (SHS) or passive smoking? SHS is where the toxic fumes from the cigarette being smoked are inhaled by the non-smoker.

The smoke can come from cigars, cigarettes, pipes and hand rolled cigarettes. SHS is toxic to the body and contains over 4,000 chemicals, some of which are carcinogenic (cancer causing). Long after a person has smoked, poisonous toxins from the cigarette are still in the air.

A passive smoker compared to a non-smoker, has an increased risk of cancer, CHD, heart attack, angina, heart failure, stroke, diabetes, obesity, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia to name just a few. There is no safe limit to inhaling SHS.

Children and babies who are still developing inhale the toxins faster than adults, so are more at risk of disease, which includes cot death, urinary problems, asthma, coughs & colds, meningitis and diseases of the ears.

So what is thirdhand smoke (THS) then? This is a toxic, residual secondhand smoke that imbeds into your clothes, upholstery, rugs, walls, car seats and other surfaces. This type of smoke lingers for months, even if the smoker moves out of the house and the house is cleaned. It continuously emits particles that are inhaled by any exposed to the areas.

Even if someone smokes away from a group of people or when no one is around, the toxins are impregnated into their clothes and surroundings. In fact, children of parents that smoke outside were found to have eight times more nicotine in their bodies than those whose parents don’t smoke.

Another example of THS is when the neurotoxin nicotine is released from clothing by perspiration, and is deposited on the surface and deep layers of the skin of babies, children and adults alike. The toxins from cigarette smoke damage skin cells, change their shape and in high concentrations die off. Nerve cells are damaged too. The toxic particulates from THS are so small, that they can penetrate into the lungs and could contribute to such things as asthma or even cancer.

So is secondhand and third hand smoke dangerous to those exposed? Definitely.

Lisa Boulton is the Medical Director of Amethyst Health Screening, a local company which carries out health checks and cardiovascular risk assessments for Lincoln residents and local businesses. She contributes on health-related topics for The Lincolnite.

By Lisa Boulton lisaboulton

If I was to say ‘binge drinking’ to you, what picture would it paint? Young people staggering out of pubs of a weekend? Stag nights and hen parties? The club scene in Ibiza? Perhaps, but the shocking truth is that having a couple of large glasses of wine at home to chill in the evening could be considered binge drinking.

What is binge drinking? The NHS and National Office of Statistics says it’s drinking heavily or more than double the daily unit guidelines for alcohol in one session. For women the daily guideline is 2-3 units and for a man its 3-4. So double the recommended units would be two large glasses of wine for a woman and three pints of strong beer for a man.

You don’t have to drink every day to binge drink. Even if you only drink now and again but drink over the recommended amount, drink quickly or drink to get drunk, you could be a binge drinker. If you start drinking and you find it hard to stop, then you may have a problem with alcohol dependence.

Drinking over the recommended guidelines in a short period of time will raise your blood alcohol concentration quickly and studies have shown that drinking like this is bad for your health compared to drinking smaller amounts in moderation occasionally.

Even if you are the type of person that can “hold their drink“, damage is being done. The old adage, ‘you reap what you sow’ is very true. You are an increasing-risk drinker, if you regularly drink over the recommended daily units. This means you are more at risk of mouth, neck and throat cancer, for women breast cancer, for both men and women liver cirrhosis and high blood pressure and a whole host of other problems.

You are a higher-risk drinker if you regularly drink over eight units a day or 50 units a week if you’re a man, or six units a day or 35 units a week if you’re a woman. You have a higher risk of the diseases described above and are more likely to have an irregular heartbeat.

Binge drinking is a real problem nationally and locally with admissions to Lincoln County hospital for drink related problems being much higher than the England average!

Don’t leave things until it’s too late. Take action now and be healthy.

Lisa Boulton is the Medical Director of Amethyst Health Screening, a local company which carries out health checks and cardiovascular risk assessments for Lincoln residents and local businesses. She contributes on health-related topics for The Lincolnite.