October 21-27 is Respiratory Care Week, and, in the spirit of lung health awareness, I’d like to focus on a health problem plaguing this country for far too long: smoking.
While America’s Health Rankings® data show smoking rates have been declining in the U.S. since the 1990s, the sad truth is that 25 million Americans alive today still will die prematurely from smoking-related illnesses. This doesn’t have to be the case. The majority of lung cancer cases can be prevented, as can the many other health complications smoking rates contributes to, including respiratory disease, stroke and heart disease.
The United Health Foundation is playing its part in curbing these smoking-related deaths and illnesses by supporting the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) in reaching its goal of reducing youth smoking rates from 20 percent to 15 percent by 2015. This will mean 900,000 fewer youth smokers. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and CTFK, every day more than 3,500 children try smoking for the first time, and about 1,000 of those who have tried cigarettes before become regular daily smokers. Nearly 80 percent of all adult smokers first become regular smokers before their 18th birthday.
Our Take Action Resource Library shows you how you, too, can play a role in the effort to reduce smoking. Learn how you can create a smoke-free workplace, build a coalition to address tobacco use or participate in a phone support program to help smokers quit.
Of course, when you look at the America’s Health Rankings data for your state, you’ll notice smoking isn’t the only factor challenging the health of your lungs.
Air pollution remains a serious issue. Everyone is adversely affected by poor air quality, but those who suffer from respiratory problems are much more sensitive to irritants in the atmosphere. For them, pollutants can cause more severe symptoms, such as chest tightness or cough and burning of the eyes and throat.
However, for even the healthiest people, studies have shown a significant association between exposure to air pollution and premature death from heart or lung disease, decreased lung function, aggravated asthma, development of chronic bronchitis, irregular heartbeat and nonfatal heart attacks.
While national air quality has improved in recent years, many states still face challenges in clearing their air. If your state is among those with higher levels of fine particles per cubic meter, the Take Action Resource Library can provide you tips and tools for becoming a community lung health advocate, including ways to promote the work the American Public Health Association has been doing on air quality and tips for setting up a local program to reduce carbon emissions by increasing the number of bike lanes in your area.
Together we can improve the health of our nation’s lungs and support the continuing decline of cigarette smoking and improvement of air quality.