The word; “Smoking” is a general word, but smoking what beyond lung cancer is the main question.
Smoking any type of smoke is harmful on our body especially lung since it’s direct affect.
Cigarette has a FRENCH origin. It means a cylinder of tobacco rolled in paper for smoking.
But it can apply to similar devices or cylinders containing herbs or anything other than the two. As recorded by The United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tobacco use is the single most important preventable threat to human health in developed countries and an important cause of premature death worldwide.
The main health hazards in tobacco pertain to diseases of the cardiovascular system, in particular smoking being a major risk factor for a myocardial infarction (heart attack), diseases of the respiratory tract such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and emphysema, and cancer, particularly lung cancer and cancers of the larynx and tongue.
Whether or not smoking will increase the chances of your catching the disease depends upon many factors such as the length of time of smoking, the amount smoked etc. If an individual decides to stops smoking in that case these changes start decreasing slowly as repair system of the body gets activated.
Various diseases linked to smoking tobacco cigarettes include lung and other types of cancers, Stroke, Respiratory ailments such as the common cold and bronchitis, Peripheral vascular disease, Birth defects of pregnant smokers’ offspring, Impotence, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema and chronic bronchitis in particular.
People who smoke are more likely to develop cataracts that may cause blindness. Smoking can reduce memory and cognitive abilities also.
For a long time now, link between smoking and wrinkles has been known. Smoking activates the gene responsible for destroying collagen. Collagen is the structural protein that gives the skin its elasticity.
Smoking can cause premature wrinkling of the skin, bad breath, and yellow fingernails besides smoker’s clothes and hair smelling bad all the time, which is considered against social discipline or manners.
Smoking is sometimes also responsible for development of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is about bone density loss.
Women are particularly prone to it after hitting the menopause. The reason is that estrogen produced by the ovaries, which gradually keeps calcium in the bones, after menopause the ovaries produce less estrogen and the loss of calcium from the bone increases.
These are just some of the health hazards of smoking. There are more harms smoking can cause beyond what has been discussed here. Please read my next article to get a complete picture of what smoking can do to you as smoker and even passive smokers.
Formaldehyde Another Cancer Concern Related to Smoking
Two more alarming facts to consider if you are a smoker, as if you didn’t already have a myriad of reasons to kick the habit: firstly- there is formaldehyde present in cigarette smoke and secondly formaldehyde causes cancer in humans.
This is another way that this nasty habit can not only harm to you or kill you, but do harm to or kill your loved ones.
In conditions of limited exposure, the effects of formaldehyde don’t seem overly frightening you may experience any or all of the following; burning and watering of the eyes, irritation in the throat and nasal passages, coughing and nausea.
In levels of high exposure over prolonged periods of time, the effects of formaldehyde exposure become much more ominous, potentially leading to nasal and or bronchial cancer even leukemia.
Studies have been conducted regarding the effects of exposure to formaldehyde for almost thirty years, in 1980 there were findings that prolonged exposure lead to nasal cancer in laboratory rats, later studies throughout the nineties prompted the International Agency for Research on Cancer to list formaldehyde as a probable human carcinogen. In 2004 reevaluations of prior studies along with continued research led to formaldehyde to be classified as a known carcinogen.
There are many others things containing formaldehyde that people could find themselves in contact with: it’s found in plywood and fiberboard, some glues and adhesives and some permanent pressed fabrics and disinfectants. Formaldehyde is normally most recognized as a preservative used by mortuaries.
According to an article published in 1982 in the American Journal of Public Health, the levels of formaldehyde in the smoke emitted from a smoldering cigarette are over three times what is considered the occupational limit. People are exposed and experience the negative effects of formaldehyde as it is released into the air.
Aside from the sources mentioned above formaldehyde exposure can also occur from automobile emissions, some burning gasses, and some burning woods.
Generally speaking, the higher the temperature of the source emitting the formaldehyde, the greater the level of formaldehyde emitted and conversely the lower the temperature of the source the less emission.
If materials in your home are releasing formaldehyde into the air, the levels can be decreased by increasing the ventilation.
Opening doors and windows and circulating fresh air over a period of time will decrease the levels of formaldehyde in the air. Another way to rid the air in your home of formaldehyde is to remove the source of the emission.
With all of the glaringly obvious reasons to kick the habit, the addiction of nicotine, the tar, the discoloration of teeth and damage to the gums, the ever increasing cost; people really shouldn’t need any other reasons to quit smoking.
There are commercials on television and ads in magazines paid for by tobacco companies telling all of us about the damage we are doing to ourselves by smoking.
States are beginning to offer free hotlines to assist people in their efforts to quit, and cities are banning smoking from all public places.
In my opinion it probably won’t be too many more years before the sale of cigarettes is illegal, but however long it takes will be too long.
Is Smoking Really the Main Cause of Lung Cancer?
Smoking is the main cause of lung cancer. There are many other causes also but smoking is the main culprit. Among other causes exposure to asbestos, exposure to random gas, air pollution, family history, scarring from previous lung disease, diets etc No of cigarettes you smoke per day is directly related to lung cancer. Unfiltered high tar cigarettes are more harmful and increase the risk of lung cancer in a person than low tar, filtered ones.
Pipe and cigar smokers are more likely to get lung cancer than cigarette or non smokers. And its worth noting that smoking does not only cause lung cancer, it can also be the cause of lip and mouth cancer. Initially lung cancer due to smoking was seen more in men but that now that more women have taken to smoking the ratio is equal. As many women get lung cancer as men.
Filtered Cigarettes with lower tar may be less harmful and reduce the lung cancer risk but that cannot be your excuse for getting lung cancer. Let me share a good news that 15 years after you have stopped smoking your risk of getting cancer is as little as that of a non smoker! Passive smoking also increases your chances of lung cancer but it’s not as bad as active smoking.
Let me go into detail to make my point clear about how time span has a very crucial role to play.
A person smoking 10 cigarettes a day for 20 years is 8 times less likely to get lung cancer than a person who is smoking 20 cigarettes for 10 years.
However long you’ve been smoking, it’s never too late to decide to give it up. The more you smoke the more prone you are getting lung cancer. If you want to give up smoking there are man ways to do it. Will power being the main quality other things follow. A software called No Smoking helps you discover why you smoke and you will learn to identify automatic habits that lead to smoking. You will also not gain weight as you quit smoking.
Can Anything Other Than Smoking Cause Lung Cancer?
There are no two arguments about the fact that smoking is the biggest and undisputed risk factor for lung cancer. People who smoke cigarette at present or have been smokers at some point in their lives are at a risk of developing lung cancer.
But not all patients diagnosed with lung cancer are necessarily smokers. Some of them have actually never touched a single cigarette in their entire lives. Which means there are risk factors other than smoking, which can cause lung cancer among non-smokers. Researchers have identified several conditions and circumstances that increase a non-smoker’s chance of developing lung cancer. We will discuss each one of these factors one by one.
Second hand smoke or passive smoking is the biggest cause after smoking, which can cause lung cancer. Inhaling tobacco smoke from people who are smoking in the close vicinity is about passive smoking. Second hand smoke is a mixture of tobacco and the chemicals from burning end of the cigarette. There are some 4000 chemicals involved and most of them are dangerous to the extent that they can cause cancer with continuous exposure.
This happens when smokers and non-smokers are sharing living or working rooms. Non-smokers who live with smokers have a 22% to 24% increased risk for developing lung cancer as compared to non-smokers who are not exposed to passive smoking in any form. It is estimated that approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths occur in the U.S. alone every year that can be attributable to secondhand smoking.
Radon gas is another potential risk that can cause lung cancer. Radon gas is a naturally occurring gas that is made when Uranium decays. It is estimated that around 12% of total lung cancer deaths in both smokers and non-smokers are because of exposure to radon gas. People who are smokers and are also exposed to radon gas in the environment have an even greater risk of developing lung cancer than non-smokers who are exposed to radon gas. Radon gas can travel up through soil and enter homes through gaps in the foundation, pipes, drains, or other openings.
Asbestos is another factor that can cause lung cancer besides the already well-known mesothelioma. Asbestos used to be widely used as thermal and acoustic insulation material. But they use of asbestos has been banned ever since it has been found to cause cancer. Asbestos fibers can persist for a lifetime in lung tissue following exposure to asbestos. Both the cancers (lung and mesothelioma) are associated with exposure to asbestos. And cigarette smoking on the top of this exposure is a very dangerous combination. It increases the chance of developing an asbestos-related lung cancer. People who smoke and are also exposed to asbestos have a five fold greater risk of developing lung cancer than other non-smokers.
Air pollution is another major risk factor of lung cancer besides, smoking, radon and asbestos. Air pollution can occur from exposure to vehicles smoke, industry smoke and dust, and power plants. These can raise the risk of developing lung cancer in individuals who are exposed to it. Need less to mention that when people smoke along with coming in contact with one of the above factors are more at a risk than their non-smoking counterparts.
But it is also true that all the smokers do not eventually develop lung cancer. Other factors, like individual genetic susceptibility, may also play a role in the one becoming a victim of lung cancer. There have been many studies that have also reported that lung cancer is more likely to occur in both smoking and non-smoking relatives of those who have had a family history of lung.
