If the risk of lung cancer from smoking is low, is it unnecessary to persuade people to quit smoking?

It is said that smoking causes cancer, but in real life, it is not difficult to find that only a few smokers eventually develop lung cancer, and even nicotine, the main ingredient in cigarettes, is not a carcinogen .

BBC documentaryLeading professor in tobacco research Stanton Glantztobacco carcinogenic Insufficient symptoms, the biggest harm is addiction.

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2017, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearly declares that nicotine is not directly causally related to cancer.

In 2005, China Government Networkan article pointed out that nicotine does not It is carcinogenic, but it has the potential to become a specific drug for the treatment of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and depression.

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Nicotine is not a carcinogen. Is the statement wrong?

I. Cold knowledge: out of 100 smokers, only a few suffer from cancer

British Journal of Cancer< A study was published in /strong>, which analyzed the relationship between smoking frequency and lung cancer incidence and mortality. Studies have shown that long-term smokers have a 16% risk of developing lung cancer, which is more than 50 times that of non-smokers; people who smoke more than 5 cigarettes per day have a 25% chance of dying from lung cancer by the age of 75.

Converting the unit of this study to 100 people, it can be known that among the 100 people who smoke >5 cigarettes per day, 25 people will die. Lung cancer.

If you don’t believe in foreign research, we also have related research in China. In 2009PLA 306 Hospital A study published in the International Journal of Respiratory Medicine,found that only 10%-20% of smokers develop lung cancer, This ratio is even lower.

Looking at the research, it seems that the number of people with lung cancer caused by smoking is not many, which is Because of the reason? The reason is in human genes.

Shen Hongbing, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said, lung cancer is a complex disease, which is caused by the combined effects of environmental and genetic factors results below. Although most lung cancers are attributable to tobacco exposure, few smokers actually develop lung cancer, suggesting a genetic predisposition to individual responses to environmental exposures. Each person’s genetic susceptibility to lung cancer is different, and the more susceptible points in the body, the higher the risk.

At this time, someone will say, hasn’t it been said that smoking causes cancer? Now that the research has come out, it turns out that smokers don’t get many cancers, so the idea that smoking is harmful to health is a wrong concept, is it really true?

Second, is it wrong that smoking is harmful to health and causes cancer?

Although only a small number of smokers suffer from cancer, most lung cancer patients are smokers. The “Primary Lung Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Standards” and “Chinese Clinical Smoking Cessation Guidelines” both point out that 85% The above lung cancers are closely related to smoking.

What everyone should understand is that in addition to nicotine, there are many carcinogenic and harmful substances in tobacco. The harm caused by these substances to the body cannot be ignored.

1. Tar

Tar can cause cancer, and entering the body will induce mutations in human cells , inhibit the development of immune function. At the same time, it also increases the speed of hardening and loss of elasticity of arteries, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

2. Nitrosamines

Nitrosamines specific to tobacco enter the body Afterwards, it can cause DNA damage. Animal experiments have found that it will undergo DNA alkylation reactions in the lungs, nasal mucosa and liver, inducing DNA alkylation damage and increasing the risk of cancer; in addition, nitrosamines can also interact with Hemoglobin binding, induced gene mutation,

3, smoking free radicals

gas-phase free radicals It will attack the cell membrane and cause delipidation peroxidation, leading to the inactivation of α1 antiprotease, which in turn causes lung damage. And free radicals have strong oxidative properties and will attack normal cells in the body.

4, nitrogen oxides< /p>

Nitric oxide produces nitric oxide hemoglobin, which can causeBody poisoning. Nitric oxide and nitrogen oxides are precursors of nitrosamines produced during smoking, which can cause damage to the respiratory tract and can also cause poisoning when combined with hemoglobin.

5. Benzene

When benzene enters the body, it can cause fatigue, anemia, and nervousness. Weakness and other symptoms, severe patients may even experience mental disorders and muscle spasms.

The harmful substances contained in cigarettes will not only cause great harm to the body, but also the addiction caused by nicotine. Long-term smoking will not only cause cancer, but also bring many kinds of harm to the body.

Third, in addition to carcinogenicity, smoking has many hazards

1. Cardiovascular disease

The nicotine and carbon monoxide contained in tobacco can damage the heart, and smokers have a 3-fold increased risk of developing high blood pressure compared to non-smokers span>The risk of myocardial ischemia was also3-folded.

2. Decreased digestive function

Smoking will reduce the secretion of gastric juice. Smoking will slow down and stop the peristalsis of the stomach for 15 minutes, which is also the reason why many people feel not hungry after smoking. And smoking also doubles the incidence of chronic gastritis, and the incidence of duodenal ulcers12X increase.

3. Damage to the brain, nerves

Smoking will make the nervous system temporarily excited, and then there will be long-term inhibition. Long-term smoking will lead to insufficient oxygen supply to the brain, which will then induce symptoms such as dizziness, headache, and long-term insomnia. .

4. Affecting children’s development

Children’s development and intelligence are also affected by parental smoking. Influence, maternal smoking can lead to miscarriage, premature birth, spontaneous abortion ratedoubled, and the birth weight of the fetus is also low. The father’s smoking also affects the fetus, and the risk of congenital malformations in the fetus will be greatly increased. Fathers who smoked 20 cigarettes a day had a significantly increased risk of hydrocephalus, cleft lip, and congenital heart disease, 1 after birth Mortality during the year will also increase, and fetal intelligence will be lower than in non-smoking households.

This is probably because the carbon monoxide produced by the burning of tobacco will cause insufficient oxygen supply to pregnant women and fetuses, and some harmful substances in tobacco will circulate with the mother’s blood. into the fetus.

Smoking not only harms yourself, but also seriously threatens the health of the next generation. Are you still planning to quit smoking? It is worth reminding that if some long-term smokers have these symptoms, I advise you to quit smoking immediately.

Fourth, long-term smokers have these symptoms, quit smoking as soon as possible

1. Cough

The early symptoms of lung cancer are usually cough, because the bronchi and the lungs are closely related, and when the tumor grows in or near the bronchi, it will cause severe symptoms in the body cough.

2. Hoarseness

When the recurrent laryngeal nerve is invaded by a tumor, or Lymph node metastasis of cancer compresses the recurrent laryngeal nerve, causing hoarseness and difficulty speaking.

3. Chest pain

The lesion presses against the sternum, ribs, or grows into the inside of the chest wall, causing abnormal chest pain.

4. Enlarged fingers

Some lung cancer patients will have “clubbing fingers” “The performance, the fingers and toes look like a pestle, this is a common pulmonary hypertrophic joint disease and one of the external manifestations of lung cancer.

This does not mean that some smokers who do not have symptoms do not need to quit smoking. Quit smoking. As long as you quit smoking, you can benefit your body, and the sooner you quit smoking, the greater the benefits.

There is no doubt that smoking is harmful to health. After reading the above, people who are smoking are sure not to put down their cigarettes? Can you really afford the harm that smoking brings to your body? #Number Weekly#

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