All Savvy Aunties know the list of why smoking is bad for you, starting with heart disease and lung cancer. According to the American Heart Association, smoking accounts for almost 20 percent of all cardiovascular deaths every year. And according to the American Cancer Society, smoking accounts for about 87 percent of lung cancer deaths, which are the leading cause of cancer deaths in the US for both men and women.

Smoking and tobacco use also account for 30 percent of all cancer deaths, including cancers of the head and neck (mouth, esophagus), digestive tract (stomach, liver) and urinary tract (kidney, bladder) and, yes, even the cancer of the cervix. Previous studies have shown that women who smoke are more prone to develop cervical cancer, especially if exposed to and infected with the human papillomavirus (HPV).

We now also realize that even if you don’t smoke but are exposed to secondhand smoke, you increase your risk of developing lung cancer. Now, a recent study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology has found that secondhand smoke may also damage your cervix. A study of more than 4,000 women who had Pap tests found that those who reported exposure to second hand smoke were 70 percent more likely to have abnormal test, despite taking into account sexual history. While these abnormalities were not cancer they do have the potential to develop into cancer if unchecked. It is believed that toxins from both firsthand and secondhand smoke cause DNA in the cells of the cervix to dysfunction and divide abnormally.

This study is another illustration of the dangers of secondhand smoke. So be savvy: stay away from smoking yourself and encourage the same for those around you. And if that isn’t enough to scare you, smoking also contributes to premature aging and wrinkles!

Published: March 3, 2011