During Women’s History Month, women are able to reflect on the historical events that occurred for the benefit of women. Some of these events, however, sent waves of misleading information, especially regarding the effects of smoking.

In 1929, the American Tobacco Company led a march down Fifth Avenue in New York City launching a movement for the freedom of women.

The parade titled Torches of Liberty Parade, consisted of hundreds of women in their late teens and early 20s smoking cigarettes. The premiere cigarettes of the parade, Lucky Strikes, were smoked to represent the liberty and freedom of women just after the landmark decision allowing women to vote.

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Today, women are suffering from detrimental effects caused by the same cigarettes that once represented feminine liberation.

Lois Schmonski, tobacco control coordinator for the Illinois Department of Public Health in Springfield, said that women who do not decide to quit smoking have a higher risk of diseases than men. For instance, women who smoke while on birth control pills risk increased hypertension leading to cardiovascular disease.

Women risk all the diseases and illness that men do, but are also at risk for cervical cancer and osteoporosis, she said. Many women smoke on birth control pills also, which is very dangerous.

Women begin smoking for different reasons, but Schmonski believes the most influential reason why women smoke is to control their weight. The depiction of thin women in cigarette advertising campaigns also is a factor.

The tobacco industry emphasizes the glamour of skinny women as they hold a cigarette in their hand, she said. Virginia Slims is a prime example.

Lung cancer, the leading cause of death for men, has surpassed breast cancer as the leading cause of death for women. In 1997, an estimated 66,000 women died of lung cancer. Lung cancer, however, becomes a preventable disease once smokers just kick the habit.

In the United States, 340,000 people die each year from smoking-related illnesses. Tobacco, whether smoked or chewed, is the cause of about 30 percent of all forms of cancer and 87 percent of lung cancer cases.

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Data compiled by the American Lung Association in 1997, showed that between 1971-73 and 1991-93, the age adjusted lung cancer mortality rate rose 20 percent for males and 159 percent for females.

Body tissues of tobacco users suffer a loss of elasticity more rapidly than non-tobacco users their same age said officials from the American Academy of Otolaryngology in Virginia. Because of this loss, body tissues are hindered from expanding and contracting at a normal rate.

The loss of elasticity in the smoker leads to hardening of the arteries, high blood pressure and twice the risk of dying from heart attacks and strokes at an earlier age than nonsmokers.

A 628-page report by the U.S. Surgeon General in 1994 summarized the effects of smoking and the frequency of disease control in men who have quit smoking.

Of all diseases researched, the reduction in cancer is one of the most gradual. It was shown that a male smoker is at 22 percent higher risk of dying from lung cancer than a nonsmoker. Ten years after quitting, a male who formerly smoked is still 6 to 11 times more susceptible to lung cancer than a life-long nonsmoker.

Within 12 hours after a person’s last cigarette, the body begins to heal itself because of the decline in the amount of carbon monoxide and nicotine in the system. However, the healing process may be uncomfortable in the beginning, Schmonski says.

There may be a temporary weight gain caused by fluid retention, irregularity and dry sore gums and tongue, she said. But in a few days, your sense of smell and taste may improve and breathing becomes easier.

Amanda Grove, a junior in performance studies from Dixon, has been smoking for four years and is concerned about the dangers of her habit. Grove began smoking at parties to chase the taste of alcohol, but she plans to quit Feb. 2, 2002.

I was smoking at occasional parties when I was 18, and it was downhill from there, she said. Now I smoke a pack a day. I figure if I quit when I’m 25, that’s enough time.