Does Smoking Make Asthma Worse?
Yes. If you have asthma, smoking is especially risky because of the damage it does
to the lungs.
Smoke irritates the airways, making them swollen, narrow, and filled with sticky
mucus — the same things that happen during an asthma
flare-up. That's why smoking can cause asthma flare-ups (or "attacks") to happen
more often. They also might be more severe and harder to control, even with medicine.
Why Should I Quit Smoking?
You may have started smoking because friends do or because you grew up in a house
where other people smoked. No matter why you started, if you're thinking about quitting, it would probably help your asthma.
Here are some other reasons to quit:
- Smoking can undo the effect of any long-term
control medicine you're taking.
- Smoking can force you to use your quick-relief
medicine more often.
- Smoking can disturb your sleep by making you cough more at night.
- Smoking can affect how well you do in sports or other physical activities.
- Worst of all, smoking can send you to the ER with a severe asthma flare-up.
If you decide to quit, you don't have to go it alone. Get support from other people
— like friends, family, or other smokers who are trying to quit. Ask your doctor
about medicines or things you can do to crave cigarettes less. Your doctor wants to
help you quit!
Can Secondhand Smoke Affect My Asthma?
Even if you don't smoke, you may still run into smoky situations at parties, events,
or even at home. Secondhand
smoke is a known asthma
trigger. You'll want to avoid it as much as possible if you have asthma.
If you hang out with smokers or have a family member who smokes in the house, you're
likely to have more frequent and severe asthma symptoms. That might mean more medicine
and more trips to the doctor's office or ER.
There's not much you can do about other people's behavior. But let your friends
and family know that what they're doing is making your asthma worse. Ask them not
to smoke in your house or car.
Is Vaping OK for People With Asthma?
Some people with asthma might think that e-cigarettes
("vaping") are a safe alternative to smoking. E-cigarettes don't fill the lungs with
smoke, but do put nicotine in your system. Besides being an addictive drug, nicotine
is also toxic in high doses, and raises blood pressure and heart rate.
Experts also agree that the vapors from e-cigarettes are harmful not only to those
to vape, but to those around them.
