It’s common knowledge that cigarettes are bad for you; they are the leading cause of lung cancer and they lower your cardiovascular health, respiratory health, and your overall quality of life. However, people still smoke cigarettes and are still being diagnosed with lung cancer in large numbers. This means that it’s still necessary to share the dangers and risks of smoking cigarettes.
We all know the dangers and risks of smoking cigarettes. However, there will be a need to educate people about the dangers and risks of smoking cigarettes for as long as people choose to smoke. Click To TweetMore people die from lung cancer than any other type of cancer.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. It’s estimated that one-fourth of all cancer deaths in 2018 were from lung cancer. Even though lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancer, it is highly preventable.
Smoking cigarettes is the greatest risk factor for lung cancer. Roughly 80% to 90% of lung cancer deaths in the United States are linked to cigarette smoking. You are 15 to 30 times as likely get lung cancer or to die from lung cancer if you smoke cigarettes. Not smoking is a great way to protect yourself from the disease.
Smoking cigarettes causes other types of cancer, too.
Smoking is most often associated with lung cancer, but it can cause cancer nearly anywhere in the body including the mouth, throat, esophagus, bronchus, trachea, larynx, colon, rectum, liver, stomach, and pancreas.
You’re not the only one smoking.
When you smoke you expose those around you to secondhand smoke. Approximately 14 million children were subjected to secondhand smoke during 2013-2014. Nonsmokers are 20 to 30 percent more likely to develop lung cancer when exposed to secondhand smoke at work or at home.
Secondhand smoke exposes others to the same cancer-causing chemicals smokers get from cigarettes; the difference is that these people aren’t choosing to smoke.
There’s not a safe way to smoke.
The only safe alternative to smoking is not smoking. E-cigarettes and vapes are not a safe alternative to smoking cigarettes.
People who smoke one or two cigarettes a day, or who smoke on occasion, are at an increased risk for lung cancer. There is no safe way to smoke cigarettes.
People with lung cancer don’t always realize they have it.
Lung cancer is most often diagnosed at advanced stages. The early stages of lung cancer often do not cause symptoms. This means that people with lung cancer do not know that they have it until the disease gets worse.
Cancer is most treatable in its early stages. The longer that you wait to get treatment, the more difficult it is to treat the disease.
It’s never too late to stop smoking.
There’s not an age at which it makes sense to continue smoking. Giving up cigarettes and tobacco products at any age reduces your risk for lung cancer.
You can test for lung cancer.
Roughly 8 million Americans are at a high risk for lung cancer. It’s recommended that people who are at high risk screen for lung cancer annually.
Consider a lung cancer screening if you are over 50 years of age, you currently smoke, you used to smoke, you’re exposed to second-hand smoke at work or at home, or you have a family history of lung cancer.
A lung cancer screening test is a low-dose CT scan. It’s quick, painless, and easy. Your visit takes less than an hour and it can save your life. The actual scan takes about five minutes.
You may qualify for a free lung cancer screening.
Who qualifies for a free lung cancer screening?
- Those 50 years of age or older with a smoking history of 20 pack-years (smoking one pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years, or 2 packs a day for 10 years) without a history of lung cancer.
- Those 55 years of age or older with a smoking history of 30 pack-years without a history of lung cancer.
MANA Imaging is the only American College of Radiology Accredited Lung Cancer Screening Center in the state of Arkansas.
Call 479-695-0081 to see if you qualify for a free screening.