05 Jan, 2009
Stop Smoking – Relationship Between Cancer and Smoking
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There is strong evidence that suggests that people who smoke cigarettes on a regular basis for a long period of time are at an extremely high risk of developing larynx and lung cancer. Researchers are still trying to figure out exactly how it is that smoking causes these types of cancer, as it is not yet understood clearly.
Normal cells that experience damage are able to repair themselves on their own. Sometimes cells are completely removed and then are replaced by the body’s lymph system. This process can start to go wrong, however.
Cells can grow abnormally, taking on inappropriate shapes and performing incorrectly. When they do, and that growth reaches a certain level that the body can’t cope with, the result is cancer.
It is known that cigarette smoke contains many carcinogenic substances.
When the paper in a cigarette burns, it releases tar. Each cigarette tends to contain between 10 and 14 milligrams of tar. This tar collects in the tiny air filled sacs of the lungs, called alveoli, where oxygen is usually transferred into the blood. The presence of tar in the alveoli irritates the cells and eventually leads to their unnatural growth.
Other compounds, called nitrosamines, are present in varying amounts. They’re known to be carcinogenic from hundreds of clinical studies on small mammals. NNK is present in a very low concentration: 56.53 nanograms per cigarette. Other nitrosamines, like NNN and NAT, are present in roughly similar amounts.
One nanogram is equal to one billionth of one gram. Even though that seems like an extremely insignificant amount of something, even these small amounts can cause problems. Like dogs noses that can detect scents from just a few molecules, some parts of the human body are extremely sensitive. Remember too that these small amounts add up over time and eventually can become serious.
Medical research has found no relation between smoking one or two cigarettes on a daily basis and the development of cancer. It is also true that very few smokers smoke so few cigarettes every day. The truth is that a twenty year smoker who takes in a pack of cigarettes every day has a two to four times higher risk of developing larynx or lung cancer than someone who does not smoke.