How dangerous is passive smoking? I share an office with a girl who has a cigarette in her mouth all day long, while I choke and splutter. She says I complain about nothing, but I am concerned that it may affect my health.
Almost everyone is forced to inhale fumes containing toxins such as formaldehyde, acetone, arsenic, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide and nicotine at some time. You have no choice in the matter, and you have to suffer the consequences, because these chemicals are just a few of the scores of irritants found in cigarette smoke.
Fortunately for most of us, the result of passive involuntary smoking is only a minor itch of the nose, a cough or a sneeze, but some people can develop life-threatening asthma attacks, or have their heart condition aggravated by someone exhaling tobacco smoke in their direction.
In some situations, the non-smoker may be more affected than the smoker, as the smoke coming directly from the cigarette contains more toxins, nicotine and carbon monoxide than that inhaled by the smoker, as the inhaled smoke has been more completely burnt, and passed through a filter.
In the workplace, employers are required to provide a safe and healthy work environment, and this can include an area where non-smokers can work. Unfortunately, some bosses still smoke, and have little sympathy for the enforced passive smoking of their employees. This situation may change in the future, as more and more workers are successfully claiming workers compensation payments for the complications of passive smoking in their work place.
Smokers should now be aware of the health risks that they are taking every day (90% of lung cancer occurs in smokers), but they can no longer claim personal freedom to smoke where and when they like, as their habit is adversely affecting the health of those around them. In some cases passive smoking can be life threatening, and legal suits against smokers for causing bodily harm have been successful in the United States.

My GP checked over my skin yesterday when I went to see him about my blood pressure, and said that I had a lot of skin cancers that would need to be treated, and he wants me to make a long appointment so that he can have time to treat them. I am very worried. How are skin cancers treated? Can they be cured?
There are many sun-induced skin sores which are not the nasty cancerous type, but there are also some which can spread rapidly enough to eventually kill the unfortunate owner of the spot!
Most of them can be very easily removed, and if the doctor is sure of the diagnosis he may burn the cancer off with a diathermy machine, or freeze it off with liquid nitrogen. Both methods are very effective in early stages of the disease.
If the skin cancer has spread, it is necessary to cut out the spot and the surrounding tissue to prevent it from spreading further. Some people are unlucky enough to have areas such as the nose or ears involved, and in severe cases these can be completely eaten away by the cancer cells.
It is often difficult for doctors to be absolutely certain about a spot when examined on the patient, and so if there is any doubt at all, the spot is cut out. This can be done very easily in a general practitioner’s surgery. The lesion is then sent to a pathologist, who will examine it further under a microscope to make the exact diagnosis.
The vast majority of skin cancers can be cured, but early treatment is vital.