World No Tobacco Day has come around again and this year’s theme is tobacco and lung health. 

We all know smoking is a major cause of lung cancer, but there are many other ways smoking can hurt your lungs, and the lungs of those around you.

Life-long diseases such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema cause shortness of breath. In severe cases, you may need to be hooked up to oxygen to get through your day.

Find yourself getting sick more often than everyone else? Smoking leads to more cases of the flu and pneumonia, which means time off work. These infections are especially dangerous as you grow older.

Smoking also worsens asthma, and increases your risk of tuberculosis - which can causes serious illness.

And then there are the effects on the lungs of your loved ones.

Secondhand smoke can cause lung cancer in adults, and there are many health risks for children’s lungs too.

Children’s lungs are more vulnerable to tobacco smoke because:

• their lungs are still developing, and
• they often can’t avoid tobacco smoke on their own.

If you’re a parent who smokes, you could be stunting the growth of your baby’s lungs both in the womb and throughout childhood, which can affect them as adults. Secondhand smoke can cause your child to wheeze, cough and experience phlegm and breathlessness. Children also have a higher risk of chest infections, including bronchitis, bronchiolitis and pneumonia.

The best thing you can do for your health and the health of your loved ones is quit smoking.

Downloading the free My QuitBuddy app is a great place to start, and you can check out other ways to quit on our website or try out our brand new Quit Planner.

P.S Watch the videos below for more info on why you should quit smoking for your lung health.