Smoke from cigarettes, cigars and pipes harms the entire body, but it is especially harmful to the lungs of a person with asthma. Tobacco smoke is a powerful stimulant of disease symptoms. Smokers with experience when diagnosing a disease, the first thing they ask is whether it is possible to smoke with asthma. To give an answer, you need to understand the etiology of the disease and the degree of harm caused by tobacco products to people with this pathology.
What is asthma
Inflammatory protracted non-communicable disease in medicine is called bronchial asthma. The process leads to bronchospasm and the appearance of dry rales in the lungs. Upon contact with allergens or irritants, bronchial resistance is formed, which reduces air access and causes suffocation.
The development of the disease takes place with the participation of mast cells, eosinophilic granulocytes, dendritic cells:
- White (mast) blood cells that causeallergies, secrete histamine. This chemical causes nasal stuffiness, airway constriction and bronchospasm.
- Eosinophils secrete proteins that damage the bronchial epithelium.
- Dendrite cells carry allergens from the ciliated epithelium to the lymph nodes.
What affects the occurrence of pathology
The main factors causing the development of bronchial asthma are allergens. Despite their different origins, they all violate the autonomic regulation of persistent excitation of bronchial smooth muscles and increase the resistance of the respiratory organs. The most well-known allergens are:
- household - dust, pet hair;
- professional - mineral dust, harmful fumes;
- meteorological - windy weather, high humidity;
- environmental - gas pollution.
Trigger that gives rise to asthma attacks and the crisis of the disease is smoking. The cigarette emits many harmful elements, such as nicotine, tar. They cause a destructive effect, giving rise to various diseases. Many of them, such as bronchitis, contribute to the onset of bronchial asthma. According to research results, with the experience of smoking cigarettes from 10 years, the risk of developing the disease doubles.
At least the following questions look strange: is it possible to smoke with bronchial asthma, are smoking and asthma compatible, given that nicotine is generally dangerous.
Symptoms of pathology
Inflammatory processes leadingto respiratory insufficiency of the branches of the windpipe, lead to impaired ventilation of the lungs and poor discharge of mucus. The focus of inflammation grows from the trachea to the alveolar passages of the lungs.
The main symptoms of asthma are disturbances in the frequency and depth of breathing. Asthma can also be suspected with symptoms such as:
- voiced whistling wheezes;
- chest tightness;
- wet cough worse at night;
- seasonal exacerbations of rhinitis;
- episodes of choking accompanied by chest pain;
- sputum production during coughing;
- sharp worsening of symptoms upon contact with irritants, allergens;
- complications even with non-serious colds.
Usually, smoking before asthma causes occasional coughing fits. You should be wary if after cigarettes, even just from smoke, it starts to tickle in the throat, it is impossible to cough for a long time.
Cigarettes and asthma
When you inhale tobacco smoke, irritating substances settle on the walls of the respiratory tract. They provoke asthma attacks in a person suffering from this disease. Tars from cigarettes damage the ciliated epithelium, which is involved in the restoration of the bronchial mucosa. Usually, cilia "sweep" dust and mucus from the respiratory tract. Tobacco smoke disrupts the functioning of the epithelium, which allows harmful substances to accumulate in the respiratory tract.
Smoking and asthma don't go together, exposure to addiction makes it hardertreatment. The prescribed course of therapy has to be adjusted due to some problems that arise after cigarettes. What's going on?
- Smoke causes the lungs to produce more mucus than usual. A large amount of secretion in the lungs provokes asthma attacks.
- Tobacco is an allergen. When smoking, hyposensitizing asthma therapy does not give the desired effect.
- Smoking provokes asthma-related diseases such as bronchitis, pneumonia.
Nicotine addicts have asthma attacks that last longer and occur much more often than non-smoking asthmatics. Smoking contributes to the secretion of mucus, which in large quantities causes an attack.
With bronchial asthma, it is also desirable to exclude passive smoking. Smoke, even in small quantities, strongly irritates the bronchial mucosa and hinders the healing process.
Cigarettes destroy the immune system, inflammation quickly becomes chronic.
An alternative to cigarettes for asthma
Smoking and asthma are absolutely incompatible. The consequences, symptoms and reviews of asthmatic smokers confirm this. But not everyone can completely abandon the gray serpent, and therefore they are looking for an alternative. Some are replacing traditional cigarettes with e-cigarettes or hookah.
Officially, WHO does not recommend a ban on electronic devices, considering them less dangerous, unlike classic tobacco products. This is also supported by numerous sociological surveys, which show that a significant number of people have abandoned traditionalcigarettes thanks to vaping.
And about whether it is possible to smoke a hookah with asthma, the organization has a different opinion. Through the device, a person inhales smoke, even if it is not tobacco and cold. The harmful substance acts as an irritant to the ciliated epithelium and leads to the development of bronchitis, pulmonary emphysema and bronchial asthma.
Difference between electronic and regular cigarettes
In industrial conditions, already harmful tobacco is treated with various carcinogens. In addition to tobacco, the paper in which it is wrapped also burns, respectively, a large amount of complex toxic substances enter the lungs.
An electronic cigarette is a device that burns a liquid mixture, often containing no nicotine at all. When turned on, the device heats the liquid, turning it into steam, which the person smokes. The main differences between electronic cigarettes:
- nicotine in the device is diluted and purified;
- no pitch;
- no combustion process minimizes the chance of fire;
- only the smoker is harmed by the device.
Is it allowed to vape with asthma
Smokers with asthma are well aware that cigarettes exacerbate inflammation. Many of them are trying to kick the addiction with the help of electronic substitutes. To understand whether it is possible to smoke a vape with asthma, you need to know what happens in the body during this process:
- During inhalation, steam enters the bronchihypotonic fluid. The process of sputum discharge worsens, which prevents the normalization of the respiratory system.
- In addition to nicotine, various impurities and flavorings are added to vaping liquid, which are allergens. And some of them, glycerin in particular, contribute to the formation of mucus.
- The main supplier of nicotine is China. During transportation, the substance must be treated with propylene glycol. To minimize costs, technical fluid is used. Is it possible to smoke with asthma or such an explosive mixture for a he althy person, no need to explain.
What is a hookah
This is a device through which the inhaled smoke enters the respiratory tract clean and cold. He attracts with his eccentricity. In many places of public catering there is a hookah smoking service. Naturally, the restaurant industry advertises the device as a safe alternative to smoking.
Hookah lovers think that there is no harm to he alth from it due to the lack of nicotine. In fact, the harmful substance is simply there in a diluted form. And if by mathematical manipulations to make a calculation, it turns out that in one gas station of a hookah there is almost eight times more nicotine than in a cigarette.
The inhaled smoke is cleaned by a water filter, so it contains practically no harmful substances. In reality, water is not capable of filtering out the complex chemicals present in smoking blends.
There are no laws and standards governing the composition of hookah components. Is it possible to smoke such a mixture with asthma if it can contain anything, and so it’s understandable.
Effects of hookah for asthmatics
When using the device, carbon monoxide enters the human body. Carbon monoxide binds dynamically to iron-containing protein and blocks the access of oxygen to tissue cells, which leads to hypoxemia. Against this background, a person experiences severe headaches, nausea and suffocation.
Tobacco mixtures may contain allergens, and there may be several of them. Having smoked a hookah, the asthmatic will begin to cough and choke. Without knowing what exactly the body is reacting to, it will be difficult to alleviate the symptoms.
If there are doubts whether it is possible to smoke a hookah with asthma, then one more argument will dispel them. All device mixes contain non-food flavorings. They contain carbon benzapyrene, which has the highest hazard class. It is dangerous to humans even in small doses. It is difficult for an organism weakened by pathology to synthesize this substance. Its accumulation causes tumors and mutagenic effects.
What is the conclusion?
For an asthmatic, any kind of smoking is highly undesirable. Such conclusions were made on the basis of the analysis of all pyrolytic inhalations. The assessment was based on a large number of factors, their impact on various body systems, and a possible threat. For an asthmatic, inhaling smoke or vapor is very dangerous, no matter how harmless it is. Therefore, the answer to the question, is it possible to smoke withbronchial asthma, negative.
