Can smoking kill after 15 yrs of smoking?

Question

I have a family member that is dieing right now. He is only 33 yrs old. He probably has smoked for about 15yrs. They say its what started as a respritory infection or pnemonia and nothing helped it. I dont know the rest of the details. But could he have had lung cancer and not known it until now? This is just crazy to think of some this young.....and from smoking. I dont smoke, but my husband does and I just went around the house and threw all his cigarettes away.

Answer 1

Okay, first off all, you are going to be in huge trouble with your husband. It's not like he doesn't want to quit, he just can't. Nicotine addiction is as much physical as it is mental. So he may physically need a cigarette, and now that you have taken that away from him, well...glad I'm not you when he gets home.

Although it takes many, many years to develop smoking-related problems, some people can be diagnosed almost immediately after starting. Your family member may in fact be dieing because of the cigarettes, or it may have been caused by something completely unrelated. I don't know.

As for your husband, talk to him about quitting. If he doesn't want to, then leave it at that. Nothing is going to change his mind. If he does want to quit, support him every step of the way. It's going to be hard for him. Bear with him and understand that it is truly difficult to quit smoking cigarettes. And if you're worried about your own health, ask him to smoke outside, or not to smoke in the same room as you. Basically just limit your own exposure to the secondhand smoke.

Best of luck!

Answer 2

There is no disease or condition that smoking does not make worse, has any health care professional ever told you that smoking is harmless, can anyone claim they never heard that smoking is not dangerous? The death toll will continue to rise as long as we live in denial. I am sorry to hear about your relative, what a young person, what a tragedy. Everyone who dies, dies from cardio-respiratory failure without exception, at death the heart and lungs stop functioning, so arming either organ is a mistake no matter how strong the addiction and when the damage is done , no opinion to the contrary can reverse or change the facts. Throwing away cigarettes is a strong grief reaction and loving your husband seems to be the motivation. I have lost many loved ones to lung disease, and some who never smoked, it seems a horrid thing that folks born with healthy lungs could destroy tat gift while my loved one struggles to breathe because of a genetic trick of nature.

Answer 3

It depends on genetics a lot of the time. smoking does cause COPD and could have weakened his lungs so that his body could not fight off the infection. And then again it could just be a fluke.

I will tell you this that my husband has smoked for nearly 50 years. He has advanced heart disease. There is a hereditary element to his heart disease but because of his smoking it developed much faster than it did for other's in his family. Instead of needing a bypass at the age of 70 he needed at thte age of 44.

I smoked for some years but quite to prompt him to smoke. He stayed with it for at least a year then restarted due to stress his mother was causing him. And he hasn't stopped again yet. Me I have never restarted. No way was I going to let the witch do it to me. I have mild COPD which is probably a hang over from having smoked for awhile and probably some allergy and some second hand smoke. At least make you hubby smoke outside the house..... But try to be supportive of a stop smoking plan.

Answer 4

What you've said doesn't point to cancer. They can test for cancer and would say definitively if that was the case. Smoking does weaken the immune system, and allowing a respiratory infection to continue doesn't help. Its possible that it wasn't the smoking itself that caused the infection, but it certainly wouldn't help.

My 77 year old grandmother had pneumonia 2 years ago, and the infection went systemic (sepsis). She still pulled through with some great medical care. He can still recover.

Answer 5

on the topic of lung cancer....you can develop and die from lung cancer and never have smoked a day in your life. Smoking can increase your risks and odds of developing it though!

I would also suggest instead of tossing out all your hubby's ciggy's....talk honestly with him about how his smoking makes you feel and how upset this new development with your family member has you. It is better to develop a plan and be a willing participant for quiting smoking then be forced into it blindsided!

Answer 6

You know this really makes me think my husband is 32 and he has being smoking for about 15 years ,did his parents smoke because if they did than thats 2nd hand smoke which is worse so he probably had it for a while.

Answer 7

yes smoking is like inside your body is in a fire the smoke gets trapped in there and rotes your body Ive smoking at the moment 15 but none stop smoking for a year and a half trying to quit now

Answer 8

Smoking doesn't kill, watch the movie 'thank you for smoking' and it will explain how smoking cures lymphoma.

Realty it's true, smoking doesn't kill, it weakens you and leaves you venerable to lung, mouth throat, and other cancers and fun stuff like that. But cigarettes can still be sold because they don't directly lead to one type of death, and smoking 15 years will leave you very venerable to anything.

If you did that without your husbands permission he's gonna be pissed, and piss away more money just buying more.

Answer 9

Yes, it is possible. A respiratory infection is definitely something that smokers get often, and they get bad cases of it. I'm not a Dr. and there's no guarantee, but I would say this is linked to his smoking habit.

Answer 10

You did WHAT? Okay, first of all, I'm very sorry about your family member, but you have NO right in touching your husband's cigarettes. All that has done will guarantee a fight and your husband is there without something to calm him down because you threw them all away. Do you know what it's like to go through nicotine withdrawal? It's about the same severity as heroin withdrawal! If he wants to quit, fine. If he doesn't, you leave him. You do NOT get to make that decision for him.