Why Tobacco is Harmful to Your Body
- The French President has a radical new plan to make his cigarette loving nation smoke free.
- Tobacco is the most important risk factor for cancer. Tobacco use is responsible for 20-30% of all cancer deaths and is associated with multiple different types of cancer.
- If an entire generation could quit smoking, this would have the largest impact on a population’s health and would dramatically decrease cancer rates and other chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease.
French President Emmanuel Macron, on World Cancer Day, has announced new measures to curb the cancer death rate in France. Macron will increase funding by 20% to develop ways to prevent "avoidable deaths from cancer." At the center of this lofty goal are measures to reduce smoking rates, which President Macron stressed is responsible for almost half of preventable cancer deaths in France. His goal is to establish "the first tobacco-free generation in recent history." This would be a challenge given how common and socially acceptable smoking remains in France with more than 30% of the population over the age of 15 currently smoking.
Read MoreTobacco and Cancer Risk
On January 11th, 1964, the United States Surgeon General’s office released a landmark report highlighting the health consequences of smoking. Since then tobacco has been public health enemy number one in America. Following this historic publication, the evidence around the negative health effects of tobacco has only grown stronger. Smoking is known to increase the risk of many cancers including head and neck cancer, lung cancer, and bladder cancer. Even more concerning are the cancers that are almost entirely linked to smoking such as small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) that recently made news following the death of Dustin Diamond. Overall, smoking has been linked to 18 different cancer types and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is responsible for every 1 out of 5 deaths in the United States.What Would Happen to Cancer if There Was a Smokeless Generation?
So, what would happen to health if there was a smokeless generation? First, there would be a decrease in all cancer deaths and a very large decrease in lung cancer deaths. Worldwide, cigarette smoking and other tobacco products cause almost 30% of all cancer deaths and close to 70% of all lung cancer deaths. Second, some cancers like SCLC would almost entirely disappear given that most of these cancers are caused by tobacco use.Related: Diagnosing Lung Cancer and Determining Treatment
Third, there would be less cancer suffering which would improve the lives of millions of people across the world. Cancer, whether tobacco-related or not, not only causes significant suffering to those who have the disease, but also to family or friends who may be caregivers for a loved one with cancer. Since cigarette smoking causes around 30% of all cancers, it would be one of the biggest improvements of public health in modern times, as there would be a decrease in human suffering from the disease. Just removing this one product from society could drastically improve the lives of millions of people overnight! Although advances have been made in many cancer treatments, no single intervention would have a larger impact on cancer mortality rates than a smokeless generation. The public health saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" may be an understatement when it comes to the health effects of eliminating tobacco use.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
What Would Happen to General Health if Everyone Quit Smoking?
In addition to cancer, cigarette use has been linked to many diseases including cardiovascular disease, stroke, and diabetes. The World Health Organization estimates that tobacco is responsible for 20% of all deaths from coronary artery disease. If a generation were to be the "first smokeless generation," in addition to major reductions in death from cancer, there would also be fewer deaths from coronary artery disease, fewer strokes, and a lower rate of diabetes. The bottom line is health would improve in all facets and aspects of society.
When it comes to tobacco the saying should be, “An ounce of prevention is worth a world of cure.”
Perhaps when it comes to quitting smoking the saying should not be, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," but more appropriately, "An ounce of prevention is worth a world of cure."
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