VIDEO
Smoking Causes Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema
Tobacco: The Perfect Carcinogen
In contrast to the difficulties in linking specific foods to the development or prevention of cancer, no such problems exist regarding tobacco.
Tobacco products have been proven beyond doubt to induce the changes in normal cells required to convert them into cancerous ones. This has been shown in the laboratory on cells treated with chemicals present in tobacco, in lab animals raised on air filled with tobacco smoke, and in studies of humans who smoke or use any tobacco product-cigarettes, cigars, pipes, chewing tobacco, or snuff. These products are poison because they are full of carcinogens; not even tobacco companies dispute this reality.
It is well established that 90 percent of lung cancers are caused by smoking and that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the
Why is tobacco such a potent cancer-causing substance? Because it is the perfect carcinogen: it contains chemicals (such as nicotine and NNK, a nitrosamine) that: (1) directly cause mutations in DNA; (2) prevent the damaged cells from dying; and (3) create addiction, causing the user to perpetuate the damage to the body. If these events happen In contrast to the difficulties in linking specific foods to the development or prevention of cancer, no such problems exist regarding tobacco.
Tobacco products have been proven beyond doubt to induce the changes in normal cells required to convert them into cancerous ones. This has been shown in the laboratory on cells treated with chemicals present in tobacco, in lab animals raised on air filled with tobacco smoke, and in studies of humans who smoke or use any tobacco product-cigarettes, cigars, pipes, chewing tobacco, or snuff. These products are poison because they are full of carcinogens; not even tobacco companies dispute this reality.
It is well established that 90 percent of lung cancers are caused by smoking and that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the
Why is tobacco such a potent cancer-causing substance? Because it is the perfect carcinogen: it contains chemicals (such as nicotine and NNK, a nitrosamine) that:
(1) Directly cause mutations in DNA;
(2) Prevent the damaged cells from dying; and
(3) Create addiction, causing the user to perpetuate the damage to the body.
If these events happen repeatedly, year after year, then the risks that a cancer will form are very high. But all is not lost, because smokers can benefit from quitting at any time during their lives. For those who smoke but have never had cancer, quitting even at age sixty can add years to their life. For those smokers who have survived cancer, then quitting smoking is one of the best things they can do to prevent another cancer.
Moreover, even if smokers are currently battling cancer, then quitting is still very important. Not only will quitting improve their health and their body’s ability to tolerate the recommended treatments but they will be improving their chances of survival.
Studies suggest that patients with lung cancer who quit smoking live longer than those who continue to smoke. Although few studies have been done in other smoking-related cancers, I suspect that they would yield the same results. Please speak to your doctor in order to get the help you need to quit smoking. If you are a smoker, totally commit yourself to quitting. It is of the utmost importance.
