How dangerous is smoking? Academician reminds: half of smokers will die early, life expectancy will be shortened by at least 10 years

"Isn't it said that smoking is very harmful and easy to die early? Why is my grandfather smoking for decades, and now he is still in his eighties and nineties?"

"Few of the smokers around me get lung cancer. On the contrary, some non-smokers get lung cancer. Does it mean that the more you smoke, the less likely you are to get cancer?"

“……”

I don't know if there is such a person in your life? Although he has been smoking for decades, his body is still strong and healthy, and there have been similar figures in history, who obviously loved smoking but lived a long life:

A Nepalese woman named Ramitch Khan is an "old smoker". She has 95 years of smoking experience. Even at the age of 112, she still smokes no less than 30 cigarettes a day , and she is still healthy and healthy.

We all know that smoking is harmful to health, why does this Nepalese woman live longer as she smokes? What is the truth?

1. Why do some people live longer when they smoke?

Smoking has always been regarded as an important cause of lung cancer, but clinically there are many cases of never-smokers suffering from lung cancer instead. According to statistics, about 15% of men and 53% of women with lung cancer worldwide have never had the habit of smoking.

Through more than 40 years of research on the relationship between smokers and lung cancer, it is speculated that lung cancer in non-smokers may be related to passive smoking, exposure to radon environment, kitchen smoke, various air pollution, original lung diseases, and Hormones are involved in reproductive aspects .

So what is the relationship between smoking and lung cancer?

Smoking is irritating to the airway mucosa, which can lead to inflammation and oxidative stress, thereby destroying the mucosa and bronchioles, causing small airway obstruction, thereby reducing lung function, and eventually leading to chronic bronchitis, COPD, etc., and even malignant transformation cancer.

Why do some smokers not get lung cancer? They may have won on "genes".

Published in "Nature Genetics", a new study from the Einstein College of Medicine in the United States found that some long-term smokers may have a powerful self-protection mechanism .

This mechanism will be triggered when the amount of smoking reaches a certain critical point, thereby limiting the DNA mutations caused by smoking, helping smokers resist the damage of cigarettes to the lungs, thereby reducing the possibility of lung cancer.

Seeing the old smokers here, don't take chances.

The British Journal of Cancer pointed out that for long-term smokers up to the age of 75, the cumulative risk of lung cancer is 14%-16%. If they smoke more than 25 cigarettes a day, the risk can increase to 20%-25%.

In other words, if 100 smokers have been smoking until the age of 75, 15 may develop lung cancer. Who can judge that he is not one of the 15 people?

2. Experts remind: half of smokers will die early

Academician Wang Chen, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and leader of the report expert group, said that the number of smokers in China has exceeded 300 million, and about 1 million people lose their lives due to smoking every year. If no action is taken, the death rate is expected to double in 2030.

Academician Wang mentioned that half of the smokers will die prematurely due to smoking, and every number means the loss of health and the suffering of patients.

In 2012, the "China Smoking Hazards to Health Report" released by the former Ministry of Health showed that the health hazards of tobacco are an indisputable fact. The average life expectancy of smokers is 10 years shorter than that of non-smokers . In addition, the hazards of smoking lead to multiple consequences in addition to the high risk of lung cancer:

1. Accelerated skin aging

A review published in "Chinese Aesthetic Medicine" mentioned that the toxic substances produced during smoking can directly act on the skin, or enter the human body through the respiratory tract and indirectly act on the skin.

. These toxic substances can cause skin ischemia, changes in collagen content of skin tissue, up-regulation of matrix metalloproteinases, etc., and then promote skin aging.

2. Affect men's health

A study in the United States shows that the probability of erectile dysfunction in smokers is much higher than that of non-smokers. The greater the amount of smoking and the longer the smoking period, the higher the risk of erectile dysfunction.

In addition, long-term smoking will also increase the incidence of prostate cancer in men. Those who smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day will suffer from prostate cancer 2.9 times that of ordinary people.

3. Induce a variety of malignant tumors

There are as many as 69 known carcinogens in tobacco, and these carcinogens will travel with the blood and affect the whole body. Thereby increasing the occurrence of more than a dozen cancers of the oral cavity, nasopharynx, throat, esophagus, bladder, and kidney.

3. When is the longest life expectancy after quitting smoking? Research finds answers

Many smokers always feel that they have been smoking for so long, and those who should be "poisoned" cannot be saved. Quitting smoking is so uncomfortable, why make things difficult for yourself?

A new study published in JAMA Web Open confirms that smoking cessation early is likely to be reversed. The study collected smoking information from more than 550,000 adults from January 1997 to December 2018.

The final results found that quitting smoking before the age of 35 can "reverse" the death risk caused by tobacco, and the health benefits are the greatest . That is to say, the sooner you quit smoking, the more you will live longer.

There are also opposing voices that quitting smoking will cause lung cancer instead. In fact, this is the result of long-term accumulation of smoking hazards in the body.

The canceration of human cells caused by tobacco exposure is a chronic and gradual accumulation process. The longer the human body is exposed to smoke, the more cells and organs are damaged. Lung cancer after quitting smoking is not a "side effect" of smoking cessation, but that tobacco has caused irreversible result in serious harm .

Discomfort in the process of quitting smoking is related to withdrawal reactions, but these reactions are temporary and vary from person to person. Under normal circumstances, the manifestation is the strongest 14 days after quitting smoking, and then it will gradually slow down until it disappears . When withdrawal symptoms occur, you can try:

• Drink plenty of water to promote the excretion of nicotine;
• Eat less greasy food and more fresh fruits and vegetables;
• Ensure enough sleep;
• Moderate consumption of vitamin B complex can stabilize the nerves and help remove nicotine from the body.

For smokers who cannot quit smoking through their own perseverance, they can also go to the smoking cessation clinic to help them quit smoking through personalized treatment. Finally, I hope all smokers make up their minds early and quit smoking successfully!

References:

[1] "30 cigarettes a day to live to 110, smoking makes people live longer? ". The Voice of China, China Central Radio and Television Station. 2016-01-28

[2] "Why do some people smoke for a lifetime without getting lung cancer?" New research reveals the truth." Life Times. 2022-04-19

[3] Shi Liqing, Chen Min. Research progress on the effect of smoking on the incidence of skin diseases. Chinese Journal of Leprosy and Skin Diseases, 2021, 37(01): 56-59.

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