Smoking and lung cancer - strong linkages
Smoking has been linked to lung cancer since the early part of the 1970s or so. By some estimates, a full 85% of all lung cancer cases are directly attributable to inhaling tobacco smoke - either because the patient is a smoker or because he or she inhaled second-hand smoke, i.e. tobacco smoke released by others who are smokers.
There may be few products deliberately used by people that have more carcinogens than cigarette smoke. Each puff is a complex amalgam of over 4000 chemicals, which include a whole bunch of cancer-causing substances.
To make things worse, passive smokers - the bystanders who don't smoke themselves - are much more likely to develop lung cancer than smokers. Smokers usually have filters in place to reduce the amount of toxins entering their lungs - passive smokers have no such benefits, which is why they are at higher risk.
In some countries, if it can be shown that a passive smoker developed lung cancer as a result of someone's smoking practices, the latter is considered to have committed homicide and is subjected to severe legal measures.
There is evidence that the so-called low nicotine and low tar cigarettes are as bad as the 'heavier' cigarettes. It appears that smokers have been deceived for many years by promises of 'lighter' cigarettes that do less damage.
The risk of lung cancer increases if the smoker started this practice at an early age. It also goes up with the number of years over which he smokes. In addition, the deeper the smoker is inhaled, the higher the risk. And the higher the number of times a day someone smokes, the stronger the chances of getting lung cancer.
Most victims of small cell lung cancer, a highly virulent and dangerous type of lung cancer, are known to be heavy smokers.
Aside from the smoking-lung cancer connection, tobacco has also been shown to contribute to other cancers such as those of the stomach, throat, mouth, larynx, bladder, kidneys and other organs.
It appears that smoking doesn't just cause cancer. Smoke nourishes cancers and helps them develop into devastating masses of malignant tumors.
The smoking lung cancer connection is very strong. The best way out is to never take up smoking in the first place. Existing smokers would do well to quit entirely, because doing so would help reduce their chances of developing the disease.
