"After smoking for half a lifetime, I was fine, but after quitting smoking, I was diagnosed with lung cancer."
"Uncle Liu of the village has smoked all his life and lived to more than 90!"
.......
It seems that these views are what most people think about quitting smoking. In life, we often hear others say that so-and-so smokes also has a long life, and people who do not smoke have a short life. Is this really the case? Regarding the two or three things about quitting smoking, Xiao Miao is here to talk to everyone here today.
How many of the 100 smokers will eventually get lung cancer?
As we all know, smoking is one of the main causes of lung cancer, and many people are curious, how many out of 100 smokers will get lung cancer?
Cancer Uk has published a research paper on the cumulative risk of smoking to lung cancer in European men. The researchers analyzed data from multicenter case-control studies of lung cancer in men conducted in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Sweden from 1985 to 1994 to calculate the cumulative risk of lung cancer in 75-year-old men.
The results showed that by age 75, the cumulative risk of lung cancer in non-smokers was 0.2-0.6%, the risk of quitting smokers was 4.2-6.5%, the risk of persistent smokers was 14-16%, and the risk of persistent heavy smokers (more than 5 cigarettes per day) was 20-25%. That is, 16 out of 100 smokers will die of lung cancer before the age of 75, and if you narrow the scope to more than 5 cigarettes a day, then 25 out of 100 people will die of lung cancer.
In addition to lung cancer, the causes of death from smoking include heart disease, lung disease and other cancers. According to data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 480,000 people die each year from smoking in the United States.
More than 40,000 of them died from secondhand smoke, 29% from lung cancer, 33% from cardiovascular disease from smoking, 21% from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from smoking, 3% from stroke from smoking, 7% from other cancers from smoking, and 7% from other diseases due to smoking.
The previously mentioned study noted that people who smoke a lot have a 25% chance of dying from lung cancer caused by smoking at age 75. At this ratio, out of 100 heavy smokers, a total of 25 (died of lung cancer) + 28 (died of cardiovascular disease) + 18 (died of lung disease) + 3 (died of stroke) + 6 (died of other cancers) + 6 (died of other diseases) = 86 died from smoking.
Second, why do people smoke all their lives and can't get lung cancer?
Although we all know that smoking will harm health, there will still be many old smokers who retort that smoking in a certain lifetime is still very long, and lung cancer is not seen. Why don't some smokers get lung cancer?
A study in Nature Genetics on April 11, 2022 answered this question.
Studies have pointed out that smoking can trigger genetic mutations in normal lung cells and lead to lung cancer, and with age and increased smoking, the accumulation rate of genetic mutations in normal lung cells will increase.
The researchers observed that when the amount of smoking reached 23 packs of years (1 pack of years = the number of packs per day × years of smoking), the frequency of gene mutations in lung cells tended to stabilize and did not rise further, which may be because the self-protection mechanism in long-term smokers was triggered, and the genetic mutation of lung cells was avoided, thereby reducing the prevalence of lung cancer. As a result, some smokers do not develop lung cancer because of smoking.
It is worth reminding that the results of this study should never be used as an excuse for smoking, and not everyone can be the "lucky one".
An article published in The Lancet on the damage to the lungs by smoking shows that compared with never-smokers, the lung function of former smokers and low-dose smokers will accelerate and cause long-term irreversible damage to some target organs. Even if long-term smoking does not necessarily lead to lung cancer, smoking does hurt the lungs, and this injury is lagging behind, which may be delayed by 10-30 years.
Third, people who have smoked for a long time suddenly quit, will their bodies be affected by anything?
If people who smoke for a long time suddenly quit smoking, their bodies may experience some uncomfortable symptoms, such as nervousness, anxiety, depression, inattention, increased salivation, sleep disorders, etc. Many people think that these discomforts are caused by smoking cessation, but in fact, this is a normal body regulation phenomenon, known in medicine as "withdrawal reaction".
The essence of the withdrawal response is actually dependence on nicotine and psychological dependence. After stopping smoking, the concentration of nicotine in the blood decreases, coupled with factors such as psychology and behavioral habits, which can lead to neurosyndo humor endocrine disorders, temporary disorders in the digestive and circulatory systems, and nicotine will directly affect the brain and nerves.
The extent to which withdrawal reactions occur depends mainly on the history of smoking, the number of cigarettes smoked, and the age of smoking, that is, the greater the amount of smoking and the longer the age of smoking, the more severe the symptoms reflected by withdrawal. Withdrawal symptoms usually appear within a few hours of quitting smoking, and are most severe in the first week after quitting. Most ex-smokers have withdrawal symptoms that gradually subside until they disappear after 3-4 weeks, while some people with severe dependence may last for more than 1 year.
All in all, the body will have a withdrawal reaction after quitting smoking, but it will not last too long and it will not cause serious organic diseases. The real cause of serious diseases such as lung cancer after quitting smoking is not caused by smoking cessation, but the result of years of smoking causing damage to the body caused by the accumulation of a large number of harmful substances.
Yang Qing, chief physician of the Department of Cardiology at West China Hospital of Sichuan University, said quitting smoking is not an easy task, especially for long-term smokers. Eighty percent of smokers want to quit, but only 3 to 5 percent succeed. As long as you survive the withdrawal reaction, the chances of successfully quitting smoking are greatly improved.
Fourth, smoking addiction is always impossible to quit? Try these 3 tricks, or help you
According to the 2018 China Adult Tobacco Survey Report, 19.8% of smokers have tried to quit smoking in the past year, but 90.1% of them have not used any smoking cessation methods, resulting in many people not successfully quitting smoking. If you want to quit smoking successfully, you should follow a scientific and effective smoking cessation method.
1. Establish a clear will to quit smoking
Before quitting smoking, find out the motivation to quit smoking, make up your mind to quit smoking forever, and determine the quit day as soon as possible. At the same time, it is also necessary to create an environment conducive to smoking cessation, throw away cigarettes, lighters, ashtrays and other smoking-related things, so as to avoid the desire to smoke when seeing these objects. You can prepare some gum, nuts, etc. to relieve the pain caused by smoking addiction, and once the addiction occurs, eat a few nuts or chew gum to divert attention.
2. Learn to call for help from smoking cessation clinics
If multiple times you fail to quit smoking, it is recommended to seek the help of a professional smoking cessation clinic. Doctors will develop personalized smoking cessation treatment plans according to the situation of ex-smokers, help ex-smokers through various intervention methods such as smoking cessation drugs and psychological guidance, and will also regularly track and follow up the cessation situation to help ex-smokers solve problems in the process of quitting smoking, which can greatly improve the success rate of smoking cessation.
3, do not blindly refuse drugs
Many ex-smokers worry that quitting smoking by taking drugs will cause side effects, but in fact, the use of drugs is a very formal way to treat smoking addiction. Smoking cessation medications can relieve phase symptoms and increase the success rate of quitting smoking. At present, there are three types of domestic first-line smoking cessation drugs (including nicotine patches, nicotine chewing gum, etc.), varenicline tartrate and bupropion hydrochloride sustained-release tablets.
It should be noted that because each smoking cessation drug has its own contraindications and caution, so ex-smokers should take smoking cessation drugs under the guidance of a professional doctor.
Smoking is harmful to health, but also increases the risk of lung cancer, cardiovascular disease and other risks, even mild smoking will increase the risk of early death. It's never too late to quit smoking, and the sooner you quit, the better it is for your health. As long as you are determined and take the first step to quit smoking, I believe you will gain a healthier body.
Resources:
[1] The cumulative risk of lung cancer among current， ex- and never-smokers in European men. Br J Cancer. 2004 Oct 4; 91(7)： 1280–1286.
[2] Single-cell analysis of somatic mutations in human bronchial epithelial cells in relation to aging and smoking. Nature Genetics.2022 April 11; 54，492–498
[3] After quitting smoking, the body is getting worse and worse? The doctor told the truth! .Health Times, 2021-11-19
[4] Quit smoking for 5 years is a success! Attention old smokers: do these to avoid relapse. Life Times, 2021-10-20
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