Harms of Smoking, Lung, breast Cancer Risk Factors
Thanks to years of research, the links between smoking and cancer are now very clear. Smoking is the single biggest cause of cancer in the world, and accounts for one in four UK cancer deaths.
In the UK, smoking kills five times more people than road accidents, overdoses, murder, suicide and HIV all put together.
Which cancers are caused by smoking?
Smoking causes nine in ten cases of lung cancer. Lung cancer has one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers, and is the most common cause of cancer death in the UK. The good news is that most of these deaths are preventable, by giving up smoking in time.
Smoking also increases the risk of over a dozen other cancers including cancers of the mouth, larynx (voice box), pharynx (upper throat), nose and sinuses, oesophagus (food pipe), liver, pancreas, stomach, kidney, bladder, cervix and bowel, as well as one type of ovarian cancer and some types of leukaemia. There is also some evidence that smoking could increase the risk of breast cancer.
Harms of Smoking, Lung, breast Cancer Risk Factors
Not all smokers get cancer. Why?
You may know someone who smoked all their lives but lived to a ripe old age. Or you may know someone who never smoked but got cancer anyway. Does this mean that smoking doesn’t really cause cancer?
Not at all. Years of research have proven that smoking causes cancer. But this doesn’t mean that all smokers will definitely get cancer or that all non-smokers won’t. It means that smoking greatly increases the risk of this disease. Smokers are, on average, much more likely to get cancer than non-smokers.
In a similar way, we can say that eating sugary foods is a cause of tooth decay. This doesn’t mean that all children who eat sugary foods will end up with decayed teeth. It means that, on average, children who eat lots of sugary foods are more likely to develop tooth decay than those who avoid such foods.
The fact is that half of all smokers eventually die from cancer, or other smoking-related illnesses. And a quarter of smokers die in middle age, between 35 and 69.
Lung Cancer, Breast Cancer, Smoking and Cancer
How does smoking cause cancer?
Tobacco smoke contains at least 80 different cancer-causing substances. When you inhale smoke, these chemicals enter your lungs and spread around the rest of your body. Scientists have shown that these chemicals can damage DNA and change important genes. This causes cancer by making your cells grow and multiply out of control.
Cancer-causing chemicals in tobacco smoke
Tar - a mixture of dangerous chemicals
Arsenic - used in wood preservatives
Benzene - an industrial solvent, refined from crude oil
Cadmium - used in batteries
Formaldehyde - used in mortuaries and paint manufacturing
Polonium-210 - a highly radioactive element
Chromium - used to manufacture dye, paints and alloys
1,3-Butadiene - used in rubber manufacturi-ng
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - a group of dangerous DNA-damaging chemicals
Nitrosamines - another group of DNA-dama-ging chemicals
Acrolein - formerly used as a chemical wea-pon
Other chemicals
Harms of Smoking, Lung, breast Cancer Risk Factors
Other poisons in cigarette smoke
Hydrogen cyanide - used as an industrial pesticide
Carbon monoxide - found in car exhausts and used in chemicals manufacturing
Nitrogen oxides - a major component of smog
Ammonia - used to make fertilisers and explosives
More poison
Older women who smoke cigarettes or have smoked for long periods of time may be up to 40 percent more likely to develop breast cancer than women who never smoked, according to a new study.
The results showed a 30 to 40 percent increased risk of breast cancer among:
- Women who were current or long-term smokers (a pack a day for 11 years or more)
- Women who started smoking at a younger age
- Women who started smoking before the birth of their first child
The study also showed that women who had smoked cigarettes for 20 years or more and used combination hormone replacement therapy were more than twice as likely to develop breast cancer as women who have never smoked or used hormone replacement therapy.
