Smoke Damage

When Katrina quit smoking four years ago, she thought her lungs would heal. But, new studies prove her wrong. Research shows that adolescence is the most dangerous time to start smoking. “Scary, it’s like now I think I’m gonna die of lung cancer,” says 19-year-old Katrina.

When kids smoke, it causes permanent damage to DNA in growing lungs. Damage which is less likely to occur for smokers who begin in the adult years. “In the past, we assumed that your risk goes up with the amount of time you had smoked. But it really didn’t have to do with when you started smoking in life,” says Dr. Alan Harsch, Pulmonary Medicine.

Now researchers say when smokers start is probably more important than how much they smoke. Lungs are still developing in the teen years. Smoking at a young age stunts the development and increases potential breathing problems.

The new information is specific and geared toward adolescents, a group that researchers now say is at special risk.

Doctors hope that kind of information will convince kids to quit if they are smoking already. For those who don’t smoke, the new data might convince them not to start in the first place.

What Parents Should Know

According to the American Lung Association, nicotine, the primary psycho active substance in tobacco, is considered by many medical authorities to be more addictive than alcohol or cocaine and is considered the gateway to drugs.

The American Lung Association reports that almost a half million people die each year from tobacco related illnesses making it the single most preventable cause of death. Still, one million teenagers begin smoking annually.

Surveys show that tobacco kills more people than alcohol, cocaine, crack heroin, homicide, suicide, car accidents, fires and AIDS combined.

Nearly 20% of American teenagers smoke cigarettes. About half of all daily smoking high school seniors say they would like to quit but almost three quarters of that group are still daily smokers eight years later.

The American Lung Association reports that children ages 12 to 14 have the highest rate of initiating daily smoking. Of those pack a day smokers in their senior year of high school, 57% began smoking by age 14.