Lung Cancer and Smoking
By Bob Sherman
Today., it's easy to understand that anything that adds irritating substances to the lung will cause a number of reactions, one of which is lung cancer.
Evidence of smoking's harm has accumulated for 200 years. Early indications of harm included lip and mouth cancer, vascular diseases and lung cancer. But, this evidence was ignored until 1950 when case-controlled studies were published in the UK and the United States.
The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer indicated that smoking was an important cause of cancers of the lung, oesophagus, mouth, pharynx, larynx, pancreas, and bladder. Additional reviews have added cancers of the stomach and liver.
Lung cancer occurs primarily in people older than 55.
The more cigarettes you smoke, the higher your risk of getting a smoking related disease. Today, smokers consume more cigarettes per day than smokers did 50 years ago. And, they often start experimenting with cigarettes earlier and become addicted sooner.
Smoking became more prevalent in the first half of the 20th century. So, smokers in the 1950s who were 55 had smoked fewer cigarettes than current smokers at age 55. Because of this, the actual risk of lung cancer for smokers has increased. Today, the cumulative risk of smokers dieing of lung cancer is about 16%, while in 1950 is was only about 6%.
Cigarette smoking increases the risks of cancer deaths, especially lung cancer. Studies have shown clear relationships between the number of cigarettes you smoke (your cigarette "dose") and the risks of smoking related diseases. In China, both urban and rural residents showed the strongest dose related relationship for lung cancer. This indicates a large absolute hazard for smokers.
In addition to lung cancer, other neoplastic (oesophageal cancer, stomach cancer, liver cancer) and respiratory diseases (chronic obstructive lung disease, respiratory tuberculosis) also show significant relationships between disease and dose.
In a study of 8,006 Japanese men living on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, found that 85% of lung cancers among current smokers and never smokers could be attributed to cigarette smoking. That is, 85% of lung cancers could have been prevented if current smokers had never smoked. And, 60% of the lung cancers of current and past smokers could be attributed to persistence in smoking. Risks of all cancers could be reduced by 21% among current smokers if they would quit smoking.
Benefits of Smoking Cessation
No matter when you decide to stop smoking, you will live substantially longer if you quit. Even if you quit at age 65, men will probably live 2 years longer and women will likely live 3.7 years longer. Not only that, but you will be considerably healthier.
If you stop smoking before middle age you can avoid more than 90% of the health risks attributed to tobacco.
It you are a current smoker, you should know that the relative risk of disease decreases the longer you are a non-smoker. But, smokers never reach the low risk of disease of those who never smoked. One study found the annual death rates of former smokers who had quit for 16 or more years was still 13% higher than for those who never smoked.
If you stop smoking at age 35, you will live 8.5 years longer.
The point is that the earlier you quit, the longer you will live. And, the healthier you will be.
Smoking is a lot easier to kick than lung cancer, isn't it?
If you need a lung biopsy for possible cancer, watch this:
References
- Richard Peto, Sarah Darby, Harz Deo, Paul Silcocks, Elise Whitley & Richard Doll, Smoking, smoking cessation, and lung cancer in the UK since 1950: combination of national statistics with two case-control studies, BMJ v 321, 5 August 2000, 323-329.
- Bo-Qi Liu, Richard Peto, Zheng-Ming Chen, Jillian Boreham, Ya-Ping Wu, Jun-Yao Li, T Colin Campbell & Jun-Shi Chen, Energing tobacco hazards in China: 1. Retrospective proportional mortality study of one million deaths, BMJ v 317, 21 November 1988, 1411-1422.
- Po-Huang Chyou, Abraham M. Y. Nomura & Grant N Stemmermann, A Prospective Study of the Attributable Risk of Cancer Due to Cigarette Smoking, American Journal of Public Health, 81(1) January 1992, 37-40.
- Donald H Taylor, Vic Hasselblad, Jane Henley, Michael J Thun & Frank A Sloan, Benefits of Smoking Cessation for Longevity, American Journal of Public Health, 92(6), 990=996.
Take a look at other pages on our site:
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