Tobacco smoke is the leading cause of different types of cancers that affect the mouth, throat, esophagus, lungs, larynx, kidneys, pancreas, stomach, bladder and cervix. Cigarette smoking can also cause acute myeloid leukemia. According to the National Cancer Institute, cigarettes contain 7,000 chemicals and at least 250 of them are considered harmful to human health. There are also at least 69 ingredients that are carcinogenic or cancer-causing.
Quitting smoking reduces your chances of getting and dying from cancer but you have to be smoke—free for a number of years before your health status returns to that of a non-smoker. The good news is though, the longer you stay smoke-free the lower your chances of developing cancer drop.
A startling 50% of people who undergo lung surgery will pick the habit up again and, in order to try and help people who have severe addictions to smoking electronic cigarettes offer a chance to save yourself the inhalation of toxins and poisons while you puff. A Google search led us to the Electronic Cigarette Tree, which told us that e-cigarettes can be purchased nicotine-free, or with nicotine for those who cannot give it up straight away. If you decide to forego the nicotine all you are inhaling is water vapor, which can be flavored if you prefer, and there is no harmful secondary smoke or carcinogenic compounds going into your blood stream. E-cigarettes give you something to do with your hands while you are quitting and have helped a number of people to give up the habit successfully and permanently.
Your chances of developing and dying from cancer as a result of smoking depend on a number of different factors like the number of cigarettes you smoke on a daily basis, the length of time you have been smoking for, the age you were when you started smoking and whether your cancer had been diagnosed by the time you decided to stop.
Quitting smoking can improve your chances of responding to treatment and chemotherapy and can also improve your body’s ability to heal. Stopping sooner rather than later also lowers your chances of having a second cancer develop and can protect you from respiratory failure and pneumonia in the long term.
Even though tobacco smoking is responsible for one in five American deaths, it is the most preventable cause of death and you have the choice over stopping and continuing. Every day that you do not smoke improves your health and lowers your chances of developing different kinds of cancer.
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