Many people are afraid of lung cancer, especially those who smoke all year round, who may panic even if they cough occasionally.
This is because, first of all, the incidence and mortality of lung cancer itself are both at the top of the cancer rankings, and it is truly the “king of cancers.” In addition, smoking can cause lung cancer, which is a well-known fact. So, why does smoking cause lung cancer? And why do some people smoke all their lives without getting lung cancer?
A man smoked all his life, but died of a heart attack!
Mr. Zhang is a typical “old smoker” who has never stopped smoking since he learned to smoke in his 20s. Although his family and doctors have asked him to quit smoking countless times because of high blood pressure and high blood lipids after he got older, he has never quit smoking for more than one month.
It is said that it takes 21 days to develop a habit, but quitting smoking is a long process. Not smoking for just 21 days cannot be considered a successful quit. To quit smoking successfully, you must at least not smoke for at least 1 year.
According to this statement, Mr. Zhang had been smoking until his death. So, did Mr. Zhang, who had smoked all his life, die of lung cancer? In fact, not really. Mr. Zhang was declared dead by the doctor after a sudden heart attack and failed to be rescued. Before that, he had actually suffered from coronary heart disease, hypertension, and high blood lipids.
I have smoked all my life but have never gotten lung cancer. Then why do all the people say that smoking can easily lead to lung cancer?
Regarding this question, what Dr. Huang wants to say is that smoking can cause cancer. This is only a conclusion drawn from big data statistics, and of course, there are individual cases. Don’t say that Mr. Zhang died of a heart attack. In real life, there are many lifelong smokers who live long lives and never get sick. There are also many people who have never touched a cigarette in their lives, but eventually got lung cancer. Isn’t this even more inexplicable?
For cancer, the pathogenicity of risk factors is a long process, and is often the result of the combined effects of multiple factors. Therefore, etiological studies mostly use “probability” to explain the pathogenicity of a certain risk factor, but it is not absolute.
As one of the main causes, smoking does greatly increase the risk of cancer, but it is not the only factor. Genetics, environmental pollution, occupational exposure, oil fume contact, lung disease, and the patient’s own decreased resistance are also key factors that induce lung cancer. Therefore, smokers are more likely to get cancer and have a higher risk, but they are not certain to get cancer.
Smoking can easily cause lung cancer!
Tobacco contains hundreds of harmful substances, and at least 69 carcinogens, such as nicotine and benzopyrene. Smoking greatly increases the risk of cancer, not just cancer, but also esophageal cancer, laryngeal cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, bladder cancer, stomach cancer, etc. In addition, smoking also damages cardiovascular health and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Regarding lung cancer, studies have shown that the probability of cancer for those who smoke one cigarette a day is 9 times that of non-smokers, and the probability of lung cancer for those who smoke 10 cigarettes a day is 12 times that of non-smokers. Among 10 patients who die of lung cancer, 9 are smokers.
Moreover, the greater the smoking index (number of cigarettes smoked per day multiplied by the smoking age), the higher the risk of cancer. Usually, the risk increases significantly when the smoking index reaches more than 20 years, which is why some people start smoking in their twenties, and generally in their forties, they are considered to be at risk of lung cancer.
“Old smokers” should be alert to these symptoms!
It is an undeniable fact that long-term smokers are more likely to get cancer. This requires “old smokers” to pay attention to early cancer screening and seek medical treatment in time once abnormal symptoms are found. Among them, the early screening methods for lung cancer mainly include chest X-rays and low-dose spiral CT examinations.
In addition, “long-term smokers” should be especially vigilant when experiencing unexplained recurrent coughing, dry cough, coughing up blood; chest pain; unexplained fever; unexplained weight loss and other symptoms, as these are very likely signs of cancer.
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