Bad news and good news....from Kansas

Health offical warns of secondhand-smoke dangers

“Even brief exposure to tobacco smoke causes serious disease,” said Dr. Jason Eberhardt-Phillips, state health officer and director of the Division of Health at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. “In seconds, these chemicals reach every organ in the body where they cause inflammation, put stress on the body, and cause damage to delicate tissues like those that line your blood vessels."

And for those who quit smoking, stroke risk drops...

“The benefits of quitting are remarkable,” Eberhardt-Phillips said, noting that after two to five years, a former smoker’s risk of suffering a stroke “...drops to the level of a ‘never smoker.’”