DR. WALLACE: I'm a 14-year-old girl, and I live with a family of smokers. I love them all, two parents, two grandparents and two older brothers. I have observed several health problems in the family smokers, especially my grandparents and my mother.
I know you encourage your readers to stop smoking or to never start. Why not print a list of all the good things that happen once a person stops smoking forever. If you can do that, I'll cut your column out of the paper and tape it to our refrigerator, and I will be forever grateful. — Nameless, Rock Island, Ill.
NAMELESS: You made an offer I couldn't refuse. To have my column embrace your refrigerator is an exciting event for me, because it is possible it will help your entire family! Please let me know the progress your family is making.
The Lung Association has listed the following nine "good things that happen when you quit smoking" - and I have added a 10th:
1. You will have more energy.
2. Toxic gases will no longer make your eyes water or irritate your nose and throat, and your smoker's cough will gradually go away.
3. You will be less likely to develop deep lines around the corners of your mouth and eyes.
4. You reduce your risk of oral cancer and esophageal cancer.
5. You reduce your risk of infertility.
6. If you are a woman using birth control, you reduce your risk of stroke.
7. Your sense of taste and smell will improve.
8. You reduce your risk of getting colds, the flu and bronchitis.
9. Quitting smoking also reduces your risk of developing high blood pressure, heart disease, emphysema, lung cancer and bladder cancer.
10. You will have extra money to spend on enjoyable activities of your choosing!
DRUG HABIT A THREAT TO UNBORN BABY
DR. WALLACE: I'm 19, pregnant and not married. My plan is to have the baby and raise it by myself. The baby's father is really hooked on drugs, so I don't want him involved in any way with the baby. I have been using cocaine recreationally for some time, and I plan to stop very soon. I don't do cocaine every day — just about twice a week.
My baby is due in another 10 weeks, and I was wondering if I might be causing it any discomfort because of my bad habit. - Mom to be, Indianapolis, In.
FUTURE MOTHER: Don't stop cocaine use "very soon": Stop it now, today! You're causing your fetus far more than "discomfort." You might be killing it. I'm shocked and saddened that you don't already know this. Women who become pregnant while maintaining a cocaine addiction are at particular risk for complications, ranging from premature birth to miscarriage and stillbirth. In addition, babies born to mothers using cocaine may have low birth weight and experience delayed development before and even after birth.
Cocaine increases the heart rate in both the mother and baby and the supply of oxygen to the baby is reduced. Because of the reduced supply, the baby is more likely to be small and grow slowly. Several cases of bleeding in the brain have been reported in babies whose mothers were dependent on cocaine. Withdrawal symptoms can occur in the babies of mothers who use cocaine regularly.
Find the help you need to stop your drug use now, before you do further damage to the precious life you are nurturing.
Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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