Essay --

Effects Of Smoking In Women Until fairly recent times, smoking was considered to be exclusive to men. They were seen smoking at parties, in public places, in offices and even in their homes while their female counterparts watched them indulge themselves. However this is not the case anymore for the last few decades have seen a rapid increase in the rate of female smokers. Figures show that in the year 2000 there were about 25 % and 21 % male and female smokers respectively. Needless to say this has resulted in some serious health problems for women as studies show that over 165,000 women die of diseases that are an outcome of heavy smoking, which includes heart attacks emphysema and breast and ovarian cancers. The fact of the matter is that just as smoking results in dire consequences for men, it produces equally horrific results for women. Most women are however unaware of the fact that smoking can pose health problems such as various different cancers. Not only this but also it can produce bad breath and yellow teeth and nails, which is not a health problem but does add to the overall negative effects of smoking. The following section of the essay will thus take into account the adverse health effects that smoking has on women i.e. breast and ovarian cancer. Studies have shown that smoking advertisements have begun to focus on teenage girls in a bid to increase their sales, while reinforcing the trend in adult female smokers. Experts point out that doing so will result in getting the teenagers hooked on to the habit with the result that they will turn into life-long smokers. It is a commonly known fact that the earlier one begins to smoke; the harder it becomes to quit later on. Thus teenage girls find themselves attracted to t... ...skin to age i.e. the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles are common and the skin begins to sag and loses its elasticity. Thus all those botox injections and plastic surgeries are likely to wield no results if a woman does not quit the habit. As mentioned earlier it also causes the nails and the teeth to become yellow and the smoker develops a particularly bad breath, which can be embarrassing if one is in public. Thus the above discussion shows that smoking in women causes a number of health problems such as heart diseases, cancers, osteoporosis and reproductive problems thereby minimizing her chances of conception. References Greaves, Lorraine. Smoke Screen: Women's Smoking and Social Control. New York: Scarlet Press, 1996. Author unavailable.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Smoking.† Available online at: http://www.ivillagehealth.com/library/nwh/content/0,4482,215912_227354,00.html 2000.