Smoking and Lung Cancer

Smoking and lung cancer seem to make the news on an almost daily basis. There are many scientific studies claiming that smoking causes lung cancer, and that cigarette smoking and lung cancer go hand in hand.

Is there truth behind these claims? What can be done to stem the rise in lung cancer from smoking that we are currently seeing?

Smoking Considered The Main Cause of Lung Cancer

Currently, smoking is considered to be the main cause of lung cancer. The reason for this is the many chemicals that are inhaled when smoking damage the lungs and increase the growth of cancer cells. There are over four thousand different chemicals in cigarette smoke. Scientists know that many of these chemicals are carcinogens, or cancer causing materials. This is the main reason that smoking and lung cancer are so closely related. But directly smoking is not the only way to develop lung cancer. Secondhand smoke is another major problem related to lung cancer. This is because even those who breathe those carcinogens indirectly are prone to developing cancer. There is no way around it, lung cancer and smoking are a major problem, and the two things are very closely related.

Duration Matters

Another fact about lung cancer from smoking is that the more often and longer that a person smokes, the worse their chance of developing lung cancer becomes. This is because the abnormal cells that cause cancer are basically fed by the cigarette smoke. It is interesting to note that the sooner a person quits smoking the less their risk of developing lung cancer. Not only that, but with each year that they continue to be smoke free, they will decrease their risk of lung cancer even more, because the normal cells in the lungs take back control from the cancer causing cells.

Smoking and Lung Cancer Statistics

There are many interesting and scary statistics surrounding lung cancer, smoking, and second hand smoke. Second hand smoke is sometimes called passive smoking. The person exposed to second hand smoke is in similar amount of risk of developing lung cancer as someone who makes the choice to smoke.

Continue to: Smoking and Lung Cancer

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