...Smoking and Lung Cancer Most people are aware of the fact that smoking causes lung cancer but people hardly know how or why the cancer develops. What does tobacco contains that gives the smoker the deadly disease of lung cancer? How many packs a day and for how long does a person have to smoke in order for him or her to develop this cancer? Are there any other conditions that are caused by smoking besides lung cancer? According to Jonathan Foulds in the article “Smoking and Lung Cancer,” the smoke contains dangerous chemicals such as benzopyrene and methylnitrosamino which are deposited into the lungs. Further, the chemicals cause DNA damage, oxidative stress and inflammation which end into malignant tumor growth (Foulds). Lung cancer destroys the respiratory tract from the mouth to the alveoli; in addition, major organs of the body are affected. Symptoms of lung cancer are coughing with blood in sputum, fever, and chest pain (Foulds). There are three main methods by which lung cancer may be diagnosed. According to Mark H. Beers of The Merck Manual of Medical Information, an x-ray of the chest, CAT scan, or biopsy may be done to diagnose lung cancer. Lung cancer is usually detected at a late stage, which does not give an individual many options for treatment. The treatment options include quitting smoking, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, oxygen therapy, and surgery (Beers). The purpose of this paper is to examine smoking and lung cancer by summarizing two articles on the topic...
Words: 1467 - Pages: 6
...Smoking is, by far, the greatest risk factor in developing Lung cancer. The question is: Why is it that healthy non-smokers get lung cancer? According to Cancer.org at least 16,000 to 24,000 Americans who have never smoked are diagnosed with lung cancer every year. People who claim they have never smoked, in reality actually have. They don’t smoke actively with a cigarette pressed against their lips. However, they are passive smokers, which means they breathe in the smoke that is exhaled by others. For example, a person dies from the tragic death of cancer that has never smoked but works in an environment with smoke-filled bars and restaurants. Another great example, a child who has been exposed to smoking for years later is diagnosed...
Words: 382 - Pages: 2
...patients of lung cancer with its relation to smoking habit and educational status in a medical college of paschim medinipore west Bengal, india- A Tribal area prospective Abinash Agarwala1, PP Roy2, Samir kumar Sarkar3, Siddhartha kumar Das4, Ankan Banerjee5 1 2 R M O cum CT Chest Department, Medinipore medical college, West Bengal, India Professor & HOD, Chest Department, Medinipore Medical College & Hospital, West Bengal, India 3 R.M.O. Cum CT, Bankura Sammilani Medical College, West Bengal, India 4 R.M.O Cum CT, College of Medicine & JNM Hospital, West Bengal, India 5 Assistant Professor, Chest Department, Medinipore Medical college, West Bengal, India ABSTRACT Background: Lung cancer is one of the commonest and most lethal cancer throughout the world. Tobacco smoking continues to be the leading cause of lung cancer worldwide. An increase incidence of lung cancer has been observed in India.Objective: The aim of this study was to find out the demographic and clinico-pathological profile of diagnosed lung cancer patients and its relation to smoking habit and educational status in tribal area of paschim Medinipore West Bengal, India. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of histopathologically proven cases of lung cancer admitted in our hospital from June 2011 to June 2014. Results: Out of 160 patients, male 140 and female 20, 88.75% were smoker and only 15% are ≤40 years of age. Smoking is the major risk factor for lung cancer .The...
Words: 773 - Pages: 4
...Smoking and Lung Cancer Smoking and Lung Cancer The devastating cause of lung cancer is creditable to cigarette smoking. Introduction Fatalities due to cancer are widespread around the globe. One of the leading cancers, worldwide, is lung cancer affecting both men and women; killing more than 1 million people in a year, according to estimation. Smoking has by and large contribution in the cause of lung cancer. Obviously, lung cancer is a significant and prevalent disease that comprises a key public health problem. It is evidently established by widespread epidemiological data that cigarette smoking is the main motive of lung cancer. Overall, 75- 80% of lung cancer fatalities and particularly 90% deaths among males are contributable to smoking in United States every year. (Hecht, 1999) Discussion There is a dose-response association exist among smoking and lung cancer, and the possibility for lung cancer amplifies with duration of smoking, quantity of smoked cigarettes, age at beginning of smoking, unfiltered cigarettes’ usage, content of tar and nicotine, and extent of intake. In 1956, a pivotal trial was performed by Doll and Hill which illustrated that a cessation in smoking minimizes the potentiality of lung cancer relatively to those who keep on smoking. Reproduction of this verdict by Pathak et al. in a study in 1986 weighed against cases and controls more than 65 years of age to less than 65 years of age to those and furthermore displayed that there was...
Words: 522 - Pages: 3
...CAUSES OF LUNG CANCER Lung cancer is a disease in which a primary cancer (the original site where the cancer occurred) develops in the tissue of the lungs. Lung cancer was first described by doctors in the mid 1800's. At the turn of the century, it was still considered a rarity ;that has changed dramatically. What has not changed is the difficultly of detecting lung cancer in its earliest stages when it has the greatest chance of being successfully treated. "Lung cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer among both men and women, with 168,000 new cases in 1992 and 146,00 deaths" ;(Winawer 283). "If you fall into the following categories of people who have been heavy smokers, you have the greatest chance of being diagnosed with lung cancer: a male over 60 ;someone who has smoked one for more packs of cigarettes a day for 20 years or longer ;someone who began to smoke before the age of 20 and is still smoking: a worker in a industrial plant with a high risk material, such as asbestos, who also smoke. Someone who has persistent or violent smokers cough ;someone who does not smoke but is frequently exposed to unnecessary passive smoke" ;(Cooper 114-120). Numerous studies all over the world have shown a link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer, as well as other cancers, with an increase in cigarette smoking followed by an increase of lung cancer. Most of these studies involve the testing of non-smokers and smokers to see how things can affect them differently and...
Words: 1173 - Pages: 5
...Cancer is one of the most terrifying medical conditions in the world, and it has touched nearly everyone's life in one way or another. It can affect any part of the body and there is no way to exactly predict who will or will not develop it, or when it will appear. Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer of women and men in the U.S. About 170,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with lung cancer each year. British scientist Sir Richard Doll discovered the connection between smoking and lung cancer. Doll published a study in 1950 that confirmed that "smoking was a major cause of lung cancer." Doll was knighted in 1972 for his work, which saved millions of lives. Lung cancer appears when a cycle of mutations in normal lung cells cause them to become abnormal and grow out of control. These changes can occur anywhere from the windpipe, down to the small air sacs in the area around the edge of the lungs where oxygen exchange takes place. Lung cancer is an uncontrolled, very deadly division of cells in the lung. Lung cancer is a disease where cancer cell go out of control taking over normal cells and organs cells in the body. There are two main types of lung cancer; non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer. There are many symptoms that are hard to notice in the early stages of lung cancer. Doctor’s use special machines to identify the awfulness of each stage. Treatments and cures are different in each person case. Small cell lung...
Words: 585 - Pages: 3
...Steve is a 54 year old Caucasian male, who has an extensive history of cigarette smoking and is at risk for lung cancer. Tobacco smoking is the most eminent cause of lung cancer. In the United States (US) in 2009, approximately 20.6 % of adults and nearly 20% of high school students were smokers. In 2012, an estimated cases of new lung cancer in males (116,470 cases) and females (109,690 cases) were diagnosed (Furrukh, 2013). Cigarette smoking is the number one risk factor for lung cancer. Starting from the 1964 Surgeon General’s report and all other subsequent reports showed that cigarette smoking is the major cause of lung cancer. Based on this solid evidence, lung cancer risk increases with the duration and intensity of tobacco consumption....
Words: 737 - Pages: 3
...Cancer has become a common word used in everyday life. The rate of diagnosing many different types of cancers has drastically risen over the past century. What is even more shocking is that the most prominent cancer in the United States, lung cancer, has a leading cause that is completely preventable. Smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer and 100% percent preventable. The use of tobacco drastically increases the rate of being diagnosed with lung cancer. With the proper knowledge lung cancer risks can be reduced. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the United States (Schwartz et al. 1996). Lung cancer affects an individual by developing in cells that line the bronchi and in the alveoli. There are two types...
Words: 1856 - Pages: 8
...November 2, 2015 Draft One Blog Imagine that the lungs of your body are giving out and find out the cancer is eating up the simple life that you may have had. As the world of cancer is growing, so is Lung cancer. According to data collected by the ACS (American Cancer Society), Lung Cancer is the second most cancer in men and women. Lung cancer has been cancer that is been tried to be cured but do to the number of new patients that is about 221,200 new cases of lung cancer every year (cancer.org). Even though there has been a push to cure this cancer there have been more deaths from lung cancer than any other cancer. The biggest factor of the growth of lung cancer is smoking. As a society, we must prevent...
Words: 820 - Pages: 4
...When you hear the word cancer, the number one thought that comes to mind is fear. Cancer is a very harsh word. One of the most common types of cancer in the USA is lung cancer. Lung cancer can be caused by smoking cigarettes, hereditary from family members, or just one of the few that developed lung cancer from either lung disease or other causes. What causes lung cancer? The number one cause of lung cancer in the USA is smoking. 86% of lung cancer is cases is caused by smoking cigarettes, and smoke inhaled by other people putting off second hand smoke. You are at higher risk of getting lung cancer if you started smoking at a younger age. Passive smoking reduces the risk, but you are still at risk for getting lung cancer. Heavy exposure...
Words: 354 - Pages: 2
...Morbidity: Lung Cancer HSA535 Managerial Epidemiology 01/29/2012 Compose an analysis of lung cancer of lung cancer as compared to other leading causes of death in your state. Include the mortality rates and the costs of lung cancer(for the most recent year reported) in your analysis. Lung cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the lung. Normal lung tissue is made up of cells that are programmed by genes to create lung tissue in a certain shape and to perform certain functions. Lung cancer develops when the genetic material responsible for production of lung cells is damaged (genetic mutations). Repeated exposure to carcinogens such as tobacco smoke may cause damage in lung cells. While tobacco, is the leading cause of lung cancer, some other carcinogens linked to lung cancer include radon and asbestos. These mutations in the genetic material of the lung cells cause the instructions for those cells to go askew. Consequently, those cells and their offspring reproduce wildly, without regard for the normal shape and function of a lung. That wild reproduction causes the formation of tumors that block air passages in the lung and make it stop functioning as it should. Lung cancer is usually divided into two major types. The first type is small cell lung cancer (SCLC). The second type is non-small cell lung cancer NSCLC. Sometimes a lung cancer may have characteristics of both types. This is called mixed small cell/large cell carcinoma. About 20% of all lung cancers...
Words: 2312 - Pages: 10
...Smoking and Lung Cancer Ramon Gaetan, Kimberley Martinez, Anthony Paige, Mirany Legaspi, Annabelle Fohne HCS/330 December 06, 2010 Peter Mabrey Smoking and Lung Cancer Every year an estimated 392,000 people die from smoking -related diseases such as Lung cancer and another estimated 50,000 people die from secondhand smoke each year. Smoking is the number one preventable death within the United States. Of adults who have ever smoked most started at the age of 21 years old or younger. Smoking is directly responsible for over 90% of all lung cancer deaths (American Lung Association, 2010). The goal of this paper is to provide an analysis of lung cancer, which directly relates to smoking. Included in the analysis is an introduction of the disease, disease history, lung cancer etiology, affected populations, and possible treatments if any. By providing this information, one will understand why it is important to keep the younger generations from smoking and encouraging those who already smoke to quit, saving their lives and those around them from this unnecessary death known as lung cancer. When introducing lung disease one needs to know the emphasis from abstaining or acquiring help to quit smoking, which would greatly reduce the chances for someone to be affected by this deadly disease. Lung cancer is diagnosed by the results of abnormal cell growth in one or both lungs. This abnormal cell...
Words: 1190 - Pages: 5
...Cigarette Smoking The effects of cigarette smoking can be horrifying. Smoking is dangerous not only to those who smoke, but to non-smokers and unborn children as well. Cigarette smoking is also physically and socially harming. The large particles in cigarette smoke, commonly known as "tar", collect in the branching points of the lungs. The tar contains carcinogenic compounds that increase the risk of lung cancer. The small particles in cigarette smoke, including carcinogens, irritants, and corrosive chemicals, collect in the small air sacs in the lungs called cilia, and damage them. These air sacs are where the blood absorbs oxygen from the air. When the small particles from the cigarette smoke are absorbed into the blood stream and transported to other parts of the body, they include a variety of diseases. The smoke from a burning cigarette is a mixture of hot gasses and different sized particles that fills the air with over 4000 chemicals, including 43 carcinogens and over 400 other toxins (Glantz & Daynard, 1991). One of the gasses emitted by cigarettes is carbon monoxide, a colorless and odorless poison. By attaching to hemoglobin, the carbon monoxide lessens the blood’s ability to carry oxygen. There are many effects of cigarette smoking on the actual smoker. They include lung cancer and other cancers, cardiovascular malfunctions, strokes, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema. Cigarette smoking may even lead to changes in the smoker’s appearance such as early wrinkling...
Words: 1605 - Pages: 7
...Lung cancer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about lung carcinomas. For other lung tumors, see Lung tumor. Lung cancer Classification and external resources LungCACXR.PNG A chest X-ray showing a tumor in the lung (marked by arrow) ICD-10 C33-C34 ICD-9 162 DiseasesDB 7616 MedlinePlus 007194 eMedicine med/1333 med/1336 emerg/335 radio/807 radio/405 radio/406 MeSH D002283 Lung cancer (also known as carcinoma of the lung) is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung by process of metastasis into nearby tissue or other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in the lung, known as primary lung cancers, are carcinomas that derive from epithelial cells. The main primary types are small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), also called oat cell cancer, and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The most common symptoms are coughing (including coughing up blood), weight loss, shortness of breath, and chest pains.[1] The most common cause is long-term exposure to tobacco smoke,[2] which causes 80–90% of lung cancers.[1] Nonsmokers account for 10–15% of lung cancer cases,[3] and these cases are often attributed to a combination of genetic factors,[4] and exposure to; radon gas,[4] asbestos,[5] and air pollution[4] including second-hand smoke.[6][7] Lung cancer may be seen on chest radiographs and computed tomography (CT) scans. The diagnosis is confirmed by biopsy[8]...
Words: 7192 - Pages: 29
...Cancer is an ancient disease. Theories and discoveries about cancer have evolved for centuries. Cancer -- including lung cancer -- was not discovered and named by one person. Two men, however -- Sir Richard Doll and Austin Hill -- are credited with discovering the link between smoking and lung cancer. Discovery of Cancer Cancer has a long history. It was known to the ancient Egyptians, who blamed the gods, and to the Romans, who blamed it on an imbalance of bodily fluids. This theory lasted for centuries. In fact, 18th-century scientists still believed that tumors were caused by unhealthy variations in a person's lymph fluids. It wasn't until the 19th century, when autopsies started to be performed on a regular basis and microscopes were used, that scientists could see that tumors were composed of cells. A German pathologist named Johannes Muller is credited with making this discovery in 1838. Rise of Lung Cancer Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women, according to the American Cancer Society, but this was not always the case. Before the advent of smoking it was very rare to find cancer in the lungs. In fact, in 1878, only 1 percent of autopsies performed at the Institute of Pathology of the University of Dresden in Germany found cancers in the lungs. Almost 40 years later, that number had risen to 14 percent. By the end of World War II, the number of men and women smoking cigarettes was at an all-time high -- and so were the rates of lung cancer...
Words: 401 - Pages: 2
