2 of 3 Smokers Will Die Early If They Don't Quit

Two-thirds of smokers will die early from their habit if they don't quit, a new study suggests.The findings indicate that it's never too late to quit smoking, one expert said.

91. They (the Jews, Quraish pagans, idolaters, etc.) did not estimate Allah with an estimation due to Him when they said: "Nothing did Allah send down to any human being (by inspiration)." Say (O Muhammad ): "Who then sent down the Book which Musa (Moses) brought, a light and a guidance to mankind which you (the Jews) have made into (separate) papersheets, disclosing (some of it) and concealing (much). And you (believers in Allah and His Messenger Muhammad ), were taught (through the Qur'an) that which neither you nor your fathers knew." Say: "Allah (sent it down)." Then leave them to play in their vain discussions. (Tafsir Al-Qurtubi,Vol.7, Page 37).

92. And this (the Qur'an) is a blessed Book which We have sent down, confirming (the revelations) which came before it, so that you may warn the Mother of Towns (i.e. Makkah) and all those around it. Those who believe in the Hereafter believe in (the Qur'an), and they are constant in guarding their Salat (prayers). 6. Surah Al-An'am (The Cattle)

Researchers analyzed data from more than 200,000 people taking part in a study conducted by the Sax Institute in Australia. The study is a long-term investigation of healthy aging.

"We knew smoking was bad, but we now have direct independent evidence that confirms the disturbing findings that have been emerging internationally," Emily Banks, scientific director of the Sax study and a researcher at the Australian National University, said in an institute news release.

"Even with the very low rates of smoking that we have in Australia, we found that smokers have around threefold the risk of premature death of those who have never smoked. We also found smokers will die an estimated 10 years earlier than nonsmokers," she added.

Compared with not smoking, having just 10 cigarettes a day doubles the risk of dying early. And smoking a pack a day increases the risk four- to fivefold, according to the study published Feb. 24 in the journal BMC Medicine.

It was long thought that smoking-related diseases would kill about half of smokers early, but newer research has put the figure as high as 67 percent. This study gives further credence to that larger death toll, the study authors noted in the news release.

The findings offer an important message to smokers, according to Scott Walsberger, tobacco control manager at the Cancer Council NSW in Australia.

"It's never too late to quit, no matter what your age or how much you smoke," Walsberger said.

Question: What Percentage of Smokers Get Lung Cancer?

Answer:

We know that smoking causes lung cancer, but it’s also clear that some people smoke their whole lives and never develop lung cancer. What percentage of smokers get lung cancer?

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Lifetime Risk of Lung Cancer in People Who Smoke

Most statistics look at the overall risk of lung cancer , combining both people who smoke and those who have never smoked. Based on United States statistics, the lifetime risk that a man will develop lung cancer is 7.62%, or 1 in 13 people. For women, lifetime risk is 6.61% or 1 in 15.  The lifetime risk of a man 

dying from lung cancer is 6.26% or 1 in 16, and 4.99% or 1 in 20 women will die from the disease.  Clearly these numbers would be higher for people who smoke and much lower for people who have never smoked.

Studies in other countries have broken down the risk further to differentiate between never smokers, former smokers, and current smokers.

In a 2006 European study, the risk of developing lung cancer was:

• 0.2% for men who never smoked (0.4% for women)
• 5.5% for male former smokers (2.6% in women)
• 15.9% for current male smokers (9.5% for women)
• 24.4% for male “heavy smokers” defined as smoking more than 5 cigarettes per day (18.5% for women)

An earlier Canadian study quoted the lifetime risk for male smokers at 17.2% (11.6% in women) versus only 1.3% in male non-smokers (1.4% in female non-smokers).

Risk of Lung Cancer Based on Duration of Smoking

The earlier in life you begin smoking, the higher your risk of developing lung cancer. Your risk also depends on the number of “ 

pack-years ” you have smoked. A pack-year is a number that is calculated by multiplying the number of years smoked times the number of packs of cigarettes smoked daily.

Quitting Smoking or Cutting Down Lowers the Risk of Lung Cancer

Quitting smoking lowers the risk of lung cancer, but it can take some time before your risk decreases. If you have smoked for more than a short period of time your risk will never reach that of a never smoker, but it is still very worth the effort to quit. Researchers looking at people in Asia and Australia found that people could reduce their risk of developing lung cancer by up to 70% by quitting smoking.

In one estimate, a 68-year-old man who had smoked two packs per day for 50 years (100 pack years) had a 15% risk of developing lung cancer in the next 10 years if he continued to smoke. This risk would drop to 10.8% if he quit smoking.

Does Cutting Down But Not Quitting Help?

The answer is that it may. In one study, it was found that people who smoked more than 15 cigarettes per day could significantly lower their risk if they cut the number of cigarettes they smoked daily in half. Another study was less positive about the cutting down approach, and suggested that quitting altogether was necessary to bring about a significant difference in risk.

Predicting Lung Cancer Risk

While it is impossible to truly predict who will develop lung cancer, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has developed a Lung Cancer Risk Assessment Tool in which you can calculate your average risk of developing lung cancer in the next 10 years, based on your age and how long you had or have smoked.

The tool is designed for people between the ages of 50 and 75, who smoked between 10 and 60 cigarettes daily for a period of 25 and 55 years. It is preceded by a disclaimer that reminds individuals that the tool is only a prediction based on statistics, and does not mean someone will or will not develop lung cancer.

Smoking after a Diagnosis of Lung Cancer

Even if you have already been diagnosed with lung cancer, quitting is worth the effort. Quitting smoking if you have lung cancer may improve your response to treatment, and possibly even, survival.

Screening for Lung Cancer

Until recently we didn't have an effective screening test for lung cancer, and people needed to rely on an awareness of symptoms.  Since nearly half of people are diagnosed when their lung cancer is already stage 4, a knowledge of symptoms alone isn't enough.  Thankfully, for some people at least, CT lung cancer screening has now been approved, and when used according to guidelines may decrease the mortality from lung cancer by 20% in the United States.  People eligible for screening include those:

• Between the ages of 55 and 80
• Have a 30 pack-year history of smoking, and
• Continue to smoke or quit smoking in the past 15 years.

There are other people who may wish to be screened as well, for example those who have been exposed to cancer-causing substances in the work place.  If you feel you may be at risk, talk to your doctor.

90% of smokers began before the age 19.

Every day, almost 3,900 adolescents under 18 years of age try their first cigarette. More than 950 of them will become daily smokers.

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the united states. Create handmade postcards encouraging smokers to quit. Sign up for I Want You to Quit Because....

About 30% of teen smokers will continue smoking and die early from a smoking-related disease.

Teen smokers are more likely to have panic attacks, anxiety disorders and depression.

Studies have found that nearly all first use of tobacco takes place before high school graduation.

Approximately 1.5 million packs of cigarettes are purchased for minors annually.

On average, smokers die 13 to 14 years earlier than nonsmokers.

According to the Surgeon General, teenagers who smoke are 3 times more likely to use alcohol, 8 times more likely to smoke marijuana, and 22 times more likely to use cocaine.

In fact, hookah smoke has been shown to contain concentrations of toxins, such as carbon monoxide, nicotine, tar, and heavy metals, that are as high, or higher, than those that are seen with cigarette smoke.

Cigarette smokers are also more likely to get into fights, carry weapons, attempt suicide, suffer from mental health problems such as depression, and engage in high-risk sexual behaviors.

More than a fifth of American teens smoke or use tobacco in some way, which means that millions of them are putting themselves at risk for early death, a federal government study warns.

Nearly 23 percent of high school students use tobacco products, and more than 90 percent of those teens smoke cigarettes, cigars, hookahs or pipes, according to the report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Nine out of ten smokers tried their first cigarette by age 18," Dr. Tim McAfee, director of the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, said in an agency news release. "We must do more to prevent our youth from using tobacco products, or we will see millions of them suffer and die prematurely as adults."

One anti-smoking expert agreed.

The new data, "demonstrates the need for strong regulation of all tobacco products, tobacco labeling, as well as tobacco marketing," said Patricia Folan, director of the Center for Tobacco Control at North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck, N.Y.

She said that unless smoking rates among youth begin to decline, "Americans will continue to be burdened with tobacco-related disease, disability and death for generations to come."

According to a report from the U.S. Surgeon General released earlier this year, unless there is a sharp drop in youth smoking rates, 5.6 million youngsters currently aged 17 and younger will die early from smoking-related diseases.

The CDC's new National Youth Tobacco Survey found that in 2013 nearly 23 percent of high school students and 6.5 percent of middle school students said they had used a tobacco product within the last month. Overall, 46 percent of high school students and nearly 18 percent of middle school students said they had at least tried a tobacco product, according to the CDC's National Youth Tobacco Survey.

More than 12 percent of high school students said they currently use two or more tobacco products. That puts them at increased risk for developing nicotine dependence that can result in them continuing to smoke when they're adults, the CDC said.

While many teens who use tobacco believe they can quit, about 75 percent of high school smokers will continue smoking into adulthood, according to the CDC.

Cigarettes were the most common type of tobacco product used by white and Hispanic high school students (14 percent and 13.4 percent), followed by cigars (11.4 percent and 12.1 percent).

Cigar use among black high school students was nearly 50 percent higher than cigarette use (14.7 percent vs. 9 percent), and more than twice as high among black middle school students (4.5 percent vs. 1.7 percent).

Dr. Len Horovitz is a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. He said that, "smoking is the No. 1 cause of heart disease," and believes the decision to take up the habit in youth is "the worst choice a person could make."

Electronic cigarette use ("vaping") within the last 30 days was reported by 4.5 percent of high school students and by about 1 percent of middle school students. While the health effects of e-cigarettes remain unclear, the Surgeon General's report warns that any form of nicotine can harm teen brain development.

"It is disheartening to learn that young people are using e-cigarettes in growing numbers," said Dr. Patrick O'Gara, president of the American College of Cardiology. "E-cigarettes, and particularly flavored e-cigarettes, are marketed to young people with tactics that are misleading at best and may be a gateway to the use of traditional cigarettes and nicotine addiction."

Cigarettes remain the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States, causing more than 480,000 deaths a year. For every death, about 32 people have a smoking-related disease.

But Folan believes regulation might still turn these numbers around.

"States with the lowest rates of tobacco use among adolescents and young adults are those that have strong tobacco control policies and programs that include high taxes on cigarettes, tobacco-free environments, point of sale restrictions, bans on tobacco product advertising targeted to youth, and anti-tobacco media campaigns," she said.

Deaths in Australia

Research estimates that one-in-two lifetime smokers will die from a disease caused by their smoking. The most recent estimate of deaths caused by tobacco in Australia is for the financial year 2004-05. Tobacco use caused a total of 14,901 deaths in that year.

Deaths in Victoria

Every year around 3,937 Victorians die from diseases caused by smoking. This estimate is based on data collected between the four years 2002 and 2005. Find the number of smoking-related deaths in your local government area at The Big Kill website.

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in Victoria. On average out of every 1000 deaths in Victoria:

• 119 are caused by smoking
• 24 are caused by alcohol (including road deaths caused by drinking)
• 12 are caused by road deaths (including road deaths caused by drinking)
• 3 are caused by other drugs, including heroin.

Disease & health problems caused by smoking

• Cancers of the lung, throat, mouth, tongue, nose, nasal sinus, voice box, oesophagus, pancreas, stomach, liver, kidney, bladder, ureter, bowel, ovary, cervix, and bone marrow (myeloid leukaemia). Smoking-related cancers accounted for about 20% to 30% of all cancer deaths in 2010.
• Heart disease. Around a third of all cases of heart disease in those under 65 years are due to smoking.
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) includes emphysema and small airways disease. Emphysema is rare in non-smokers.
• Chronic bronchitis is a recurring cough together with frequent and increased phlegm.  It occurs in about half of all heavy smokers.
• Stroke. Smokers under 65 years are around three times more likely to have a stroke than non-smokers of the same age.
• Peripheral vascular disease is a narrowing of the leg arteries that can lead to blockage and, in some cases, amputation. Cigarette smoking is the main risk factor for this disease.
• Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is the bursting of the lower part of the aorta leading from the heart. It often leads to sudden death. Cigarette smoking is the main risk factor for this disease.
• Peptic ulcer disease in persons who are Helicobater pylori positive.
• Eye diseases, such as macular degeneration and cataracts.
• Lower fertility in women.
• Low bone density in older women and hip fractures in both sexes.
• Periodontitis, a dental disease that affects the gum and bone that supports the teeth.
• Respiratory symptoms including shortness of breath, coughing, phlegm and wheezing. These symptoms occur in both child and adult smokers.
• Faster decline in lung function, which means smokers cannot breathe in as deeply, or breathe out as hard as they would if they didn't smoke.
• Impaired lung growth among child and adolescent smokers and early onset of lung function decline in late adolescence and early adulthood.
• Problems during pregnancy and childbirth including restricted foetal growth and low birth weight, complications that can lead to bleeding in pregnancy and the need for caesarean section delivery, and shortened time in the womb and preterm delivery (the baby is carried for less than 37 weeks). Smoking during pregnancy also causes death in early infancy (particularly from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and reduced lung function in infants.
• Childhood cancer (hepatoblastoma) where the father and/or mother smoked before and/or during pregnancy.
• Worsening asthma. Smokers with asthma have poorer asthma control, faster decline in lung function, more airway inflammation, and get less benefit from some asthma medications, compared to non-smokers with asthma.
• Complications during and after surgery, including delayed wound healing and increased risk of infection, drug interactions, lung complications and breathing difficulties

Smoking as a risk factor

Cigarette smoking is also a risk factor associated with a number of health problems, including:

• Breast cancer in women.
• Crohn's disease (a chronic bowel disease).
• Back pain.
• Cirrhosis of the liver and bile ducts, and pancreatitis.
• Erectile dysfunction. Men who smoke increase their risk of impotence, and may have reduced semen volume, sperm count and sperm quality.
• Other complications during pregnancy and childbirth including ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, and oral clefts. Smoking in pregnancy also increases the risk of the child being overweight or obese.
• Period pain and early menopause in women. Smoking may increase the risk for painful periods, missed periods and irregular periods. Women may also experience more menopausal symptoms.
• Facial skin wrinkling tends to occur earlier.
• Skin diseases, such as psoriasis and hidradenitis suppurativa (painful boils or abscesses in the groin and underarm).
• Increased susceptibility to bacterial and viral infections, ranging from the common cold through to influenza, legionnaire's disease, meningococcal disease, tuberculosis, and sexually transmitted diseases such as human papilloma virus (HPV).
• Type 2 diabetes, and higher risks for disease in people with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.
• Motor vehicle crashes and death from injury in accidents, including burn injuries and house fire deaths.
• Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, and cognitive (brain function) decline.
• Autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and multiple sclerosis, among others.
• Hearing loss.
• Impaired sense of smell.
• Lower fitness.
• Sleep disorders.
• More fat around the abdomen (gut), which raises the risk of heart disease and metabolic problems.
• Tooth loss and dental implant failure.

In combination with the contraceptive pill, smoking increases a woman's risk of heart attack and stroke. This risk increases dramatically with age, particularly over the age of 35 years.

Nicotine also interacts with a range of drugs, affecting how well they work and how they are processed by the body.

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