The causes of lung cancer
The causes of lung cancer are still not completely understood. However, several factors are known to significantly increase the risk of developing the disease. This article takes a look at some of these factors.
Cigarette smoking:
This is one of the leading causes of lung cancer. There is a very strong connection between smoking and lung cancer. It is established beyond any reasonable doubt that smoking increases the risk of lung cancer (and many other cancers as well.)
It is estimated that if someone smokes two or more packs of cigarettes per day, he or she has about a one in seven chance of going down with lung cancer. If that person smokes only one pack each day, his risk of getting lung cancer is still as much as twenty five times that of someone who doesn't smoke!
Cigar and pipe smokers are no better off - they run five times the risk of getting of lung cancer as compared to non-smokers.
Smoking has been shown to create real damage in lung cells. As the total number of cigarettes smoked during a lifetime increases, so does the risk of developing cancer.
The good news is, from the time a person quits smoking, the lungs begin a process of repairing the damage. The lungs actively replace unhealthy cells with healthy ones that are capable of functioning well.
As a result, the risk of developing lung cancer decreases almost immediately from the time smoking stops. And the odds keep dropping further with each smoke-free year. It is estimated that by year 15, the odds drop to a level comparable to that of a person who never smoked.
Environmental Tobacco Smoke:
That's what second hand tobacco smoke is officially called. This is the smoke inhaled by people who are around others who smoke. This phenomenon is also called passive smoking and is among the major causes of lung cancer.
Research shows that living in a house with a smoker gives all the non-smokers a roughly twenty four percent greater chance of developing lung cancer when compared to people who are not exposed to second hand smoke.
Asbestos:
Asbestos used to be a popular construction material during the last century till the 1960s. It is quite well known that asbestos is another of the causes of lung cancer - it gives rise to mesothelioma. This is a type of cancer that affects the pleural lining in the human lungs.
Asbestos does its damage because it splits into tiny fibers of silica. These fibers get trapped within the lungs. Mesothelioma occurs only in people who are exposed to asbestos and almost never in those who are not exposed to it.
In non-smokers, asbestos exposure is estimated to increase risk of lung cancer by a factor of five. Smokers who come into contact with asbestos face a fifty to ninety times higher risk of cancer!
Air pollution:
Research indicates that when people are exposed to heavily polluted air, lung cancer risks go up to the same levels as that of second hand smokers. An estimated 1 in 100 of all lung cancer deaths are said to be caused by air pollution.
Those are some of the major causes of lung cancer. Other factors like having a family history of cancer are thought to increase risks as well.
