5 steps to help you recover from secondhand smoke

Smoking isn't just dangerous for smokers, it's dangerous for bystanders. If you suffer from secondhand smoke, here's some steps to take that could counteract the negative effects.

• Eight hours of exposure to other people's smoke is as damaging to your cardiovascular system and lungs as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.
• After just 30 minutes, secondhand smoke makes platelets in the bloodstream stickier and more prone to clotting.
• Every year, secondhand smoke causes an estimated 60,000 deaths from heart disease and 3,000 from lung cancer.
• If you grew up in a household with smokers, your own lung cancer risk is 3 to 11 times higher than normal.
• It also raises your risk for respiratory infections and nasal sinus cancer. Secondhand smoke could elevate your odds for cancers of the cervix, breast and bladder.
• Harvard University researchers have found that those who regularly breathe in other people's smoke are 91 percent more likely to have heart attacks than those who aren't.

• Just as with a smoker's, your body will begin purging the poisons and returning to a healthier state within hours after you stop breathing in smoke.
• Removing yourself from smoke-filled environments results in reduced risk for heart attack.
• Earlier detection of COPD will help ensure that you can receive treatments to stop lung damage.
• The same is true for lung cancer. Catching it early will increase your odds for successful treatment.
• You'll also feel better. Your clothing and hair won't smell like smoke and your eyes won't burn from smoke exposure.
• The proof: When the town of Helena, Montana, banned smoking in public places in 2002, heart attack rates among residents fell 58 percent in just six months.

• There are only two ways to deal with smoke in the air: Get rid of the cause of smoke or remove yourself from the location.
• Today, most cultures call for smokers to accommodate nonsmokers. Not the other way around.
• Don't feel awkward asking the smokers among you to take it outside.

The onus isn't just on smokers to accommodate you. You should also choose social places where smokers don't congregate, especially when travelling outside of Canada. An increasing number of restaurants all over the world are either entirely smoke-free or segregate smokers.

• If grew up in a smoking household, or were heavily exposed to daily smoke, talk to your doctor about screenings for lung cancer.
• Also request a test for a breathing condition called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
• Your doctor might use computed tomography (CT) equipment to get a detailed picture of the interior of your lungs. They may also check your lung function to see how much air you're breathing in and out, and how much oxygen you're absorbing.

With the right plan and a little courage, you can take back your health from secondhand smoke. Remember, there's nothing wrong with putting your foot down when it comes to smoking, especially when you're the bystander.