DOES SMOKING CAUSE LUNG CANCER?

Does Smoking cause lung cancer?  I will give you the facts and let you make your own decision.  Once you see the data and understand the correlation there will be no doubt in your mind that smoking does indeed cause lung cancer.

I've said many times I am not a proponent of trying to scare you into quitting smoking.   Fear does one thing to smokers, it makes them want to smoke another cigarette.  So I present to you information on lung cancer relating to smoking only to make you aware of the dangers.  I realize that fear of disease has not stopped you from smoking to this point, and most likely will not be the key that makes you stop.  But it is important that you realize the effects of smoking.

Cigarette smoking in the United States did not become prevalent in men until the early 1900's.  At that time men started smoking and at a rather rapid pace.   There were virtually no instances of lung cancer until the 1920's and 1930's, approximately 20-30 years after smoking became popular.  See the chart below.  Do you see the increase in lung cancer some years after smoking began?

Women in the united states did not start smoking until the late 1920's and early 1930's.  At that time tobacco companies started targeting women with advertisements glamorizing cigarettes and appealing to equality with men to propel them into taking up smoking.  The ads worked and by 1965 33% of women in the United States were smokers.

Now look at the chart below.  This shows lung cancer rates among women in the United States.  Notice that lung cancer in women did not start appearing until the 1950's.  Do you see the correlation?  Some 20-30 years after they began smoking instances of lung cancer started to appear.  This is not a coincidence.

It is painfully obvious from these charts that cigarette smoking does in fact cause lung cancer. In fact it is fairly predictable when the cancers will start appearing.

Does this mean that you will get lung cancer if you smoke?  Probably not, even as a smoker the chances of getting lung cancer are fairly small but there is definitely a correlation between smoking and lung cancer.  Smoking increases your chances of getting lung cancer exponentially.

Is it worth the risk?  The next time you light up, think about what you are doing.  By not smoking you virtually eliminate any risk of ever obtaining lung cancer. 

Good luck quitting smoking.  Millions have quit and many more are quitting right now.  Why not join them right now!!!!

-->

Custom Search

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_and_smoking
http://www.whyquit.com/joel/Joel_02_17_smoke_in_lung.html