Smoking

Smokers may also already have lung disease or reduced lung capacity which would greatly increase risk of serious illness.

Smoking products such as water pipes often involve the sharing of mouth pieces and hoses, which could facilitate the transmission of COVID-19 in communal and social settings.

And while initiatives by organisations aim to address this, the deputy principal of a primary school says this issue needs a more collective effort from respective schools and parents.

Joseph Kolowa, being with the Lealea Primary School for over 10 years now and observing the way of life in the community, said the problem lies within family environments.

However, there was an 80% increase in incidents of tobacco use in those movies from 2015 to 2016.

The numbers are prompting concern from public health researchers and advocates over the effects these scenes have on young people's behavior.

"We've known for a while that the more you see smoking on screen, the more likely you are to see youth smoking cigarettes in real life," said Michael Tynan, lead author of the report and a public health analyst at the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health. "There's a causal relationship between the two."

The Pacific International Hospital’s medical director and chief of cardiology, Dr Venkita S Suresh, said: “Smoking damages the lining of your coronary arteries, leading to a build-up of fatty material (atheroma) which narrows the artery.

“This can cause angina (chest pain) and eventually a heart attack. The carbon monoxide in tobacco smoke reduces the amount of oxygen in your blood. This means your heart has to pump harder to supply the body with the oxygen it needs.”

Scientists found that the cocktail of chemicals in cigarettes is particularly harmful to developing liver cells.

They developed a method of studying the effects of maternal smoking on liver tissue using embryonic stem cells.

The team, led by the University of Edinburgh, also discovered the cigarette chemicals affect male and female foetuses differently.

During their research they used pluripotent stem cells - cells which have the ability to transform into other cell types - to build foetal liver tissue.

It's part of a tough anti-tobacco strategy the country's politicians are trying to make a reality.

The ban on the sale of tobacco to this generation and younger would continue even after they reach adulthood.

It's only being considered at the moment but it could mean smoking eventually becomes illegal for all Russians.

Russian news site Izvestia says it has seen a policy document titled "concept for the state policy to counter tobacco consumption in the years 2017-2022 and beyond".

Having sequenced thousands of tumour genomes, they found a 20-a-day smoker would rack up an average of 150 mutations in every lung cell each year.

The changes are permanent, and persist even if someone gives up smoking.

Researchers say analysing tumour DNA may help explain the underlying causes of other cancers.

Pamela Pugh, 69, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2013. She started smoking aged 17 and quit in her early 50s.

But she said: "Even though I gave up many years ago, the effects of smoking caught up with me.

1. Get Regular Medical Care -

Make regular appointments with your doctor to discuss any health concerns that are bothering you. Keep a symptom diary and bring this with you to your appointments. Make a note of when these symptoms started how long they lasted, did it cause you any pain? How severe was the pain?  This information may be useful to your doctor.

More research is needed on the toxic components of smokeless tobacco products and the health of people who use them, write the researchers from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"It’s not uncommon for people to use smokeless tobacco as an alternative to cigarettes in an attempt to wean themselves off smoking," said Dr. Frank Leone, who is director of the University of Pennsylvania's Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program in Philadelphia. "There are much safer ways to substitute sources of nicotine."