As a non smoker and asthmatic, I know from firsthand the health problems that smoking can cause and as a result I am one of the most vehement anti-smokers around. I realise that it is an addiction and yet it is hard to comprehend how people can put their lives at risk.
I grew up in a household where both parents smoked, as was very common in those days. Out of a family of three, two of us had asthma, which was genetic, I admit, but surely must have been exacerbated by the cigarette smoke?
It was much more acceptable in those days to smoke in public and my early adulthood was spent in smoke filled bars and restaurants. My asthma was never properly in control during those years.
Even as an adult I had to attend frequent meetings in countries where it was deemed socially acceptable to smoke in meeting rooms, as well as constantly during dinner and it is only now that I am in a smoke free environment most of the time that I can consider my asthma really and truly under control.
However, I am fearful for problems that may crop up in the future as a result from so many years exposure to cigarette and cigar smoke, as I fear that asthma might just be the tip of the iceberg and that other problems will develop in the future.
