It’s a well-known fact that smoking causes lung cancer, and we’ve all heard the advice to quit in order to avoid it. Despite this, there are always those smokers who understand the risks but still struggle to quit.
Cigarette smoking continues to be the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States, claiming more than 480,000 lives each year. Given this staggering statistic, it’s no surprise that many individuals are trying to break the bad habit.
However, surprisingly, not all of these deaths from smoking are a result of lung cancer.
For those who find it difficult to quit smoking and are worried about developing lung cancer, there is both good news and bad news.
Starting with the positive, recent statistics presented on @antiagingtipsorg’s podcast suggest that smoking is unlikely to cause lung cancer.
@antiagingtipsorg #cigarettesmoking #lungcancer #cancersucks #heartattacks #cadiovasculardisease #cigarettes #healthtok #thetruth #wellness ♬ original sound – Anti-Aging Tips
This surprising statistic could change the way you perceive the consequences of smoking: 80% of smokers do not develop lung cancer, while 20% do
While it’s true that smoking is unlikely to cause lung cancer, don’t cancel your therapy or other smoking cessation methods just yet. Smoking actually has an equally deadly effect on your body, but in a different way.
“I believe it’s because smoking kills people from heart attacks before they live long enough to grow their tumors,” the interviewee states.
This is because the damage smoking causes to the lining of your blood vessels can lead to cardiovascular disease developing faster than lung cancer would have, if it was going to happen at all.
He concludes, “so if you could make smoking more dangerous and kill everybody from heart disease, perhaps they could advertise it as cancer safe.”
The CDC supports this arguement
The risk of developing cardiovascular disease is significantly higher for smokers, with smoking being linked to stroke and coronary heart disease – two of the leading causes of death in the United States.
Surprisingly enough, you don’t have to smoke two packs a day to be at risk of these health risks – even smoking less than five cigarettes a day can lead to early signs of cardiovascular disease.
Smoking can also damage blood vessels and cause them to thicken and become narrower, ultimately leading to a faster heart rate and an increase in blood pressure.
Moreover, it can lead to the formation of clots, and it’s important to note that a stroke can occur due to either a clot blocking blood flow to the brain or a blood vessel bursting in or around it.
Smoking can certainly cause cancer, but not necessarily in the lungs
Cancer can be triggered by smoking and can develop in many areas of the body beyond the lungs, such as the bladder, blood, esophagus, kidneys and ureter, liver, pancreas, and stomach.
Additionally, smoking increases the likelihood of cancer patients and survivors dying from the illness and other health issues. It’s actually estimated that if smoking was eliminated, about one out of every three cancer-related deaths in the United States could be avoided.
To put it simply, smokers should be more concerned about the risk of dying from a heart attack than the risk of getting lung cancer, which is an eye-opening and very alarming fact that shatters our previous misconceptions about smoking.
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Kate Smith, a self-proclaimed word nerd who relishes the power of language to inform, entertain, and inspire. Kate's passion for sharing knowledge and sparking meaningful conversations fuels her every word.