How much damage has smoking done?

LegacyUser

Hey.

Have a wee worry.

I never smoked myself, always HATED them. Going out with a girl now about 6 months. She's 18 now. Between 13-17, she smoked maybe 2-3 cigarettes a day, but on and off. She says in the 4 years, she smoked for about 8 months.

My question is, how much damage could she have done? And how could it impact on her in the future? And will there ever be a point where her health gets back to a non-smokers level?

I just really worry that she'll get sick down the line, and I'll blame her in some way for doing this to herself.

She gave them up when she met me, so it was never an issue (I'd never go out with a smoker), but I'm just curious. And just for the record, I didn't 'force her' to quit or anything. In her own words, she wanted to quit, but needed an incentive, which turned out to be me. Just to make that clear

I'm not asking for medical advice or anything, just peoples opinions and thoughts.

Thanks,

Mackypoo

Wibbs

OK IMHO Given the length of time she smoked and the few she smoked all told and her youth, I would reckon that little enough damage has been done and as the years pass any damage that has been done will likely repair itself. AFAIR even if a pack a day type stops, within a year their risk of heart attack drops right off and after 10/15 years their risk of lung cancer is near enough to a non smoker. I read a study only last year that suggested that if people gave up before 40, at 50 their risk of death from it's effects was only about 3% higher than non smokers.

Yes smoking is bad. I know this. I am one and the chances are high at this stage that it's already done me in. Yes it's very bad in that one way or another it kills half it's users, but... In the race to stamp it out from a health point of view the hype has gone overboard. Like any toxin, exposure dose and length of exposure has a huge part to play. Which often gets left out of the mix. It's the only drug/toxin I can think of that this applies to. Some people(and anti smoking lobbys) seem to think and promote the idea that someone who puffs one ciggy a week is in the same risk group of someone who eats 60 a day. It makes no logical sense and it's not that black and white, but too often the good work by the anti smokers gets lost under serious hyped up and oft near obsessional scaremongering, but in fairness I can see why.

I would say fair play to her for giving up. I would say fair play to her for giving up for herself and her future health. I would advise you to stop worrying about her future health. I mean what age are you. 18/19 yourself? Enjoy your life and let her enjoy hers. Instead of thinking of her as an ex smoker, think of her as a non smoker. Given her exposure to tobacco smoke the chances are high that she(and you) have been exposed to more risk factors than tobacco at this stage.

Mr. Incognito

I've read somewhere that as long as you stop before your mid- thirties the body will be completely healed in ten years no matter how heavy a smoker you were.


There are no shortage of medical studies on it a short google click away.

Young people heal much faster though- I wouldn't worry, everyone smokes in college and tend to give it up in their mid twenties.

KM56

well its not as if she a heavy smoker so i doubt she has done that much damage.

i am a smoker like but it is my choice to stay on them, i tried to give up but i couldn't.

so like your girlfriend is giving up...well done to her.

Faith

She'll have done almost no damage to herself. If she gave them up 6 months ago, then I'd say her body is the exact same as an 18 year old who's never smoked.

Blazer

Within 6 months of giving up cigarettes your lungs start repairing themselves.
Within 5 years you have the same health risks as a non-smoker.
Hell I smoked 60 a day for about 10 years and gave them up for about 3 years.
Then did a marathon last year. Health wise I'm in exellent shape so 2-3 cigs a day won't kill you.
Hell I wish I could only smoke 2-3 cigs a day.

kevmy

Yeah you will get to a stage where you are back to a non-smokers level of health depending on how heavy you smoked and for how long.

I think for the average smoker it takes a little over half the length of time you smoked to get back to a non-smoker level, ie. if you smoked for 10 yrs it would take around 6 yrs to get back to that level, 20 yrs smoking would take 10-13yrs etc.

Dragan

Guess what, if you decide you want to be with someone for the rest of your life you need to realise that the time span involved might mean you only get to be with them for the rest of their life.

Everyone gets sick, everyone will someday die.

You will have to learn to deal with it and not seek to blame the person.

petethebrick

Dragan wrote: »

Guess what, if you decide you want to be with someone for the rest of your life you need to realise that the time span involved might mean you only get to be with them for the rest of their life.

Everyone gets sick, everyone will someday die.

You will have to learn to deal with it and not seek to blame the person.

+1. And seriously OP, you're both 18! surely you have more improtant things to be worried about at that age

LegacyUser

complete non-issue, my grandad lived to over 90 and he was a moderate smoker all his life, so i dont think a couple of fags here and there when you are teens will make one slight bit of difference in the long run health wise. its a terrible habit tho, and anyone who starts smoking in this day and age is a retard plain and simple.

LegacyUser

Hey.

Thanks for your responses... makes me feel a bit easier about it! I'm 21 by the way, few years between us

Anyways, chalk up another wee win for boards!

Thanks all,

Mackypoo