Do you believe smoking causes cancer?

Question

On the front page of Yahoo right now is a blurb about how scientists have now found evidence that the graveyard shift at work causes cancer. I've also heard in the past about the link between cancer and eggs, stress, sitting too long, soda, getting bruises too many times, depression, sunlight, etc... the list goes on. Truth is they just don't know, so why all this hatedred toward us smokers? If 3 out of 10 people that smoke get cancer, then 7 don't. People do get lung cancer that don't smoke as well, but they are not recorded. So what's the connection there? Doctors get gov't grants to prove smoking causes cancer, which means if they can't come up with something to that effect, they get no more grant money. No one gets paid to show negative results. In hospitals, if someone dies of any sort of repiritory cancer or disease, they mark them down as death due to smoking!
More people die of car accidents than cigarettes every year (if you believe the cigarette death stats), ban cars?

Ok, if you believe the stats, i suppose it maybe higher than car accidents, i don't really know the figures for car accidents, but it's the comparison point...

To Whitelady. The reason there are no positive reports are for the already stated reasons and also I don't think smoking is actually a positive. It smells, it is proven to reduce lung capacity etc but if you read serious medical journals there have been no studies that prove the cause.

Answer 1

Firstly my suggestion to you is - Please do not mind. Make your question short. No one will read lengthy questions. In fact I have not read it and I am answering just on the question "Do you believe smoking causes cancer ?"

Yes We are tend to beliver Smoking is one of the main reasons for cancer. It is not that all smokers get cancer. I was a chain smoker I did not get cancer. Similarly many non-smokers have got cancer. Why. Statistics show more than 87% cancer patients in the respiratory system get it due to smoking - read.

* Cigarette smoking causes 87 percent of lung cancer deaths and is responsible for most cancers of the larynx, oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, and bladder.
* Secondhand smoke is responsible for an estimated 3,000 lung cancer deaths among U.S. nonsmokers each year.
* Tobacco smoke contains thousands of chemical agents, including over 60 substances that are known to cause cancer.
* The risk of developing smoking-related cancers, as well as noncancerous diseases, increases with total lifetime exposure to cigarette smoke.
* Smoking cessation has major and immediate health benefits, including decreasing the risk of lung and other cancers, heart attack, stroke, and chronic lung disease.

Tobacco use, particularly cigarette smoking, is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States. Cigarette smoking alone is directly responsible for approximately 30 percent of all cancer deaths annually in the United States. Cigarette smoking also causes chronic lung disease (emphysema and chronic bronchitis), cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cataracts. Smoking during pregnancy can cause stillbirth, low birthweight, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and other serious pregnancy complications. Quitting smoking greatly reduces a person’s risk of developing the diseases mentioned, and can limit adverse health effects on the developing child.-

Answer 2

I don't believe smoking causes lung cancer, my grandfather died of lung cancer and he never smoked a day in his life and dew to his employment was never around any smokers.
and this below which I have cut and pasted into my answer, the part that says "it is proven to reduce lung capacity etc"
I have been smoking for 40+ years and I can hold my breath under water long then any of my teenaage and adult children, as far as I'm concerned everyone has cancer in there body and who gets it depends on if something happens in there life that triggers it off.

6 hours ago

To Whitelady. The reason there are no positive reports are for the already stated reasons and also I don't think smoking is actually a positive. It smells, it is proven to reduce lung capacity etc but if you read serious medical journals there have been no studies that prove the cause.

Answer 3

Smoking is a serious risk factor for many incurable lung and throat diseases. Cancer is just one of them. Most smokers will get eventually one or more of the diseases. I think that after 20 years of heavy smoking, at least 7 smokers out of 10 will get something nasty associated with smoking (though you are right that only 3 out of 10 will get lung cancer).

Since society is connected together by caring for each other and via the medical costs that are partially shared by everybody (healthy and sick alike). We discourage taking unnecessary health risks.

For the same reason of risk reduction people are requested to wear seat belts in cars, to not use drugs, and to not smoke.

Regarding the other risk factors you mentioned (such as late shifts and stress), it would be wise to avoid them too, however the actual risk there is much smaller than the actual risk involved with smoking.

Answer 4

If you want to smoke, then smoke. If you want to live a delusion, then live a delusion. You don't need me to make it OK. Most studies that show "no connection" with cancer and smoking are funded by the tobacco industry. Now there is some unbiased study money for your argument.

Did you know that the first studies that found a correlation with smoking and cancer were done by the insurance industry. Their only motivation was to not pay out settlements for people that died needlessly.

Answer 5

Alright...your in denial man.

I'm a smoker and I know it can be the cause of many cancers. DUH silly.

Why not just admit it's it is bad for you in too many ways to count and you just can't stop anyway like the rest of us? It's much easier that way. Trying to justify smoking is equvenlent to saying that lung cancer, mouth cancer, high blood preasure, a stroke, asthma, cronic broncitis, or a heartattack and so on is good for you in someway. Makes no sense at all. And yes...it has been proven. When they started putting the surgeons general warning on the pack is when they proved it.

Answer 6

yes.. smoking does cause cancer, lung cancer.. and those who died of cancer that you say did not smoke at all probably got them due to second hand smoking! if smoking doesn't seem so bad as you seem to see it, how come there is not even a report that there is something good that can come out of it?.. just a thought..

Answer 7

I think that is has been fairly well established over the years that smoking contributes to cancer. There is always a signal to noise problem when compiling such statistics. But if different studies over a ten to twenty year time frame come up with similar results, I'd say that the results are valid.

Answer 8

Smoking is one of the causes of lung cancer. Ohter risk factors are exposure to radon gas, pollution, heredity etc. The risk of cancer increases dramatically with smoking and usually the kind of cancer you get is squamous cell carcinoma. The other types of cancers such as adenocarcinoma, small cell and giant cell carcinoma are not associated with smoking. Not all people who smokes get cancer. It is related to the number of cigarettes per day and the length of time a person is smoking.

Answer 9

Absolutely. The WHO says tobacco use is the number one cause of cancer here - http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/facts/cancer/en/ . They also say diet in western cultures accounts for 30% of cancers.

You also can't rule out lung cancer caused by second hand smoke, as reported by local health departments. They will also tell you (I've heard their radio ads) that smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer, and that radon gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer.

Answer 10

smoking for sure will cause cancer...
why some people prone to lung cancer more than oters?
this is becoze there are other factors that can lead to cancor e.g. chemotherapy,radiation, age , family history......etc..
smoking can result in many diseases like atherosclerosis which can causes damage to the walls of the artery and then changes will happen to the cells of the vessels leading to heart disease...

so it's harmfull....quit smoking is better for you..