Small Cell Lung Cancer and Smoking

March 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment

There are many different types of lung cancers and not all are caused by smoking. Thousands of people every year are diagnosed with lung cancer who have never smoked or been subjected to second hand smoke. Sadly though, there is one type of lung cancer that is almost always caused by tobacco use. This disease is called small cell lung cancer.

This type of cancer is one of the most aggressive types. It is very fast growing and spreads quickly to other parts of the body. Approximately twenty percent of lung cancer cases diagnosed are small cell. Other contributors to small cell lung cancer include being exposed to asbestos or uranium. Radon poisoning can also be a factor.

Small cell lung cancer rarely exhibits symptoms until it has spread outside of the lung, therefore it is often diagnosed in a later stage of the disease. Some of the symptoms that are common are shortness of breath, pain in the area of the ribs, back or chest, a hoarse voice, coughing that may or may not include coughing up blood and trouble swallowing.

One of the most common forms of treatment for small cell lung cancer is chemotherapy. Surgery is rarely done as it has been proven that it does not slow down the progression of the disease and is of little use in treating the cancer. Radiation is often times used in conjunction with a chemotherapy plan.
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The Link Between Smoking and Cancer

February 7, 2011 by Leave a Comment

It is estimated that there are 1.3 billion smokers in the world according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It is expected that smoking will kill approximately 6.5 million people by the year 2015. Statistics show that more than 18 percent of all deaths in the USA annually occur as a result of smoking. In 2009 there were 46 million smokers in the USA alone according to The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) .

It is a well known fact that smoking causes an increase in the prevalence of some types of cancer. Tar has been identified as the primary cause. The smoke itself is seen as cancer causing and affects not only the smoker, but also the nonsmoker who inhales environmental tobacco smoke. A cigarette contains between 60 to 80 different cancer-causing agents.

Which Cancers Does Smoking Cause?

When many people think of smoking and cancer, only lung cancer comes to mind. However, smoking has been linked to many other types of cancer. Six of the cancers most often associated with the habit are:

1. Lung

2. Bladder

3. Mouth

4. Esophageal

5. Throat

6. Larynx

Evidence is also emerging that smoking may have an impact on other cancers such ovarian, liver, stomach, bowel and breast. Research has shown that smoking over time causes a buildup of dangerous poisons in the body which damages the organs and inhibits normal functioning of the body. Some of these toxins are cadmium, benzene and arsenic. Individually these compounds are dangerous, when combined they are deadly. Scientists have found that the blood of smokers has 10 times as much arsenic as that of nonsmokers.

There can be no doubt based on the number of studies done over the years that smoking is a prime cause of cancer in humans. The good news is that for many people, most of the cancers listed above can be prevented by not smoking.

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The Relation Between Smoking And Cancer

January 19, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Smoking and lung cancer are terms that are commonly used in various situations. There are many people who have been suffering from diseases of the lungs and some of them suffer very severe problems and a very few of them may even suffer from lung cancer. The truth is that the relation between smoking and lung cancer is very high.

There are various reasons for this. The first important factor is that the smoke from the cigarettes contains nicotine that is released from the tobacco. The nicotine is a very addictive substance and at the same time, it is also a carcinogen. A carcinogen is a substance that can cause cancer in a person. Since the nicotine is a carcinogen, it can cause cancer in the person.

The nicotine enters the lungs of the person with each breath when the person draws in the smoke. Once this occurs on a regular basis, the person will start having changes in the tissues of the lungs. The lungs start collecting fluids and there is also infection. The air that enters into the lungs is also not to the full amount. This decreased air entry into the lungs will cause the person to suffer from breathlessness.

Other than the person who smokes, the people who live around the smoker can also be affected by smoking and this is called as the passive smoking. Since the affected individual is not an active smoker, the inhalation of the smoke that is exhaled by a smoker is called as passive smoking. The passive smoking also has the same kind of effect as active smoking. The family members or people living with a smoker are prone to this condition and may also suffer from lung cancer. Cessation of smoking decreases the chances of a person suffering from lung cancer very drastically.

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