SMOKING - A silent killer: Questions and answers about cigarette smoking and cancer.

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SMOKING, DEATHS AND CANCER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SMOKING, A SILENT KILLER - Questions and Answers About Cigarette Smoking and Cancer

Tobacco use, particularly cigarette smoking, is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States.

Cigarette smoking alone is directly responsible for at least one-third of all cancer deaths annually in the United States, and contributes to the development of low birth weight babies and cardiovascular disease. Quitting smoking can significantly reduce a person's risk of developing heart disease and diseases of the lung, and can limit adverse health effects on unborn children.

 

 

 

 

 

A non Smoker Lungs

A Smoker Lungs (very black and red lungs)

 

What are the effects of cigarette smoking on cancer rates?

Cigarette smoking is the most significant cause of lung cancer and the leading cause of lung cancer death in both men and women. Smoking is also responsible for most cancers of the larynx, oral cavity, and esophagus. In addition, it is highly associated with the development of, and deaths from, bladder, kidney, pancreatic, and cervical cancers.

Are there any health risks for nonsmokers?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The health risks with cigarette smoking are not limited to smokers—exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) significantly increases a nonsmoker's risk of developing lung cancer. (ETS is the smoke that nonsmokers are exposed to when they share air space with someone who is smoking.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a risk assessment report in December 1992 in which ETS was classified as a Group A (known human) carcinogen—a category reserved for only the most dangerous cancer-causing agents. The EPA report estimates that ETS is responsible for lung cancers in several thousand nonsmokers each year, and ETS exposure is also linked to severe respiratory problems in infants and young children. More recently, the California Environmental Protection Agency issued a comprehensive report on the health effects of ETS and concluded that ETS is directly related to coronary heart disease.

What harmful chemicals are found in cigarettes?

Tobacco smoke contains thousands of chemical agents, including 60 substances that are known to cause cancer (carcinogens).* During smoking, nicotine is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream and travels to the brain, causing an addictive effect. The Surgeon General Reports noted the following conclusions about nicotine: cigarettes and other forms of tobacco are addicting, and the aspects that determine tobacco addiction are similar to those that determine heroin and cocaine addiction.

How does exposure affect the cigarette smoker?

The risk of developing lung and other smoking-associated cancers, as well as noncancerous diseases, is related to total lifetime exposure to cigarette smoke. This includes the number of cigarettes a person smokes each day, the age at which smoking began, the number of years a person has smoked, and ETS exposure.

Credits/Sources:http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/ - http://cancer.gov

 

 

 

 

 

BEFORE: A smokers health

AFTER: A smokers health (the same person after several months)

 

 

 

 

Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS)

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), also called "secondhand smoke," is the combination of two forms of smoke from burning tobacco products:

 

- Sidestream smoke, or smoke that is emitted between the puffs of a burning cigarette, pipe, or cigar...- Mainstream smoke, or the smoke that is exhaled by the smoker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When a cigarette is smoked, about half of the smoke generated is sidestream smoke, which contains essentially the same compounds as those identified in the mainstream smoke inhaled by the smoker. Some of the chemicals in ETS include substances that irritate the lining of the lung and other tissues, carcinogens (cancer-causing compounds), mutagens (substances that promote genetic changes in the cell), and developmental toxicants (substances that interfere with normal cell development). Tobacco smoke is known to contain at least 60 carcinogens, including formaldehyde and benzo[a]pyrene, and six developmental toxicants, including nicotine and carbon monoxide.

Nonsmokers who are exposed to ETS absorb nicotine and other compounds just as smokers do. As the exposure to ETS increases, the levels of these harmful substances in the body increase as well. Although the smoke to which a nonsmoker is exposed is less concentrated than that inhaled by smokers, research has demonstrated significant health risks associated with ETS.

Health Effects Associated With ETS Exposure

In 1986, two landmark reports were published on the association between ETS exposure and the adverse health effects in nonsmokers: one by the U.S. Surgeon General and the other by the Expert Committee on Passive Smoking, National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council (NAS/NRC). Both of these reports concluded that:

 

- ETS can cause lung cancer in healthy adult nonsmokers;- Children of parents who smoke have more respiratory symptoms and acute lower respiratory tract infections, as well as evidence of reduced lung function, than do children of nonsmoking parents; and- Separating smokers and nonsmokers within the same air space may reduce but does not eliminate a nonsmoker's exposure to ETS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1992, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed the above findings in its study on the respiratory health effects of ETS. In addition, the EPA classified ETS as a Group A carcinogen—a category reserved only for the most dangerous cancer-causing agents in humans. The EPA report, a compilation of 30 epidemiological studies that focused on the health risks of nonsmokers with smoking spouses, concluded that there is a strong association between ETS exposure and lung cancer. Scientists estimate that ETS is responsible for approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths per year among nonsmokers in the United States. Recent studies and the EPA's report point to a 20–percent increased risk of lung cancer in nonsmokers due to ETS.

In response to evidence that ETS causes diseases beyond lung cancer and respiratory problems in children, the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) conducted a comprehensive assessment of the range of health effects connected with ETS exposure. In 1999, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) published the Cal/EPA's results as part of its Smoking and Tobacco Control monograph series in Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke. The following table outlines the health effects that were found to have a significant association with ETS exposure.

 

 

 

 

Health Effects Associated With ETS Exposure

 

 

Developmental Effects:Low birth weight or small for gestational ageSudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

Respiratory Effects:Acute lower respiratory tract infections in childrenAsthma induction and exacerbation in childrenChronic respiratory symptoms in childrenEye and nasal irritation in adultsMiddle ear infections in childrenCarcinogenic Effects:Lung CancerNasal Sinus CancerCardiovascular Effects:Heart disease mortalityAcute and chronic coronary heart disease morbidity

 

 

Other health effects that were found to be possibly associated with ETS were as follows:

 

 

Spontaneous abortion (miscarriage);Adverse impact on cognition and behavior during child development;Exacerbation of cystic fibrosis (a disease marked by overproduction of mucus in the lungs);Decreased lung function; Cervical cancer.

However, further research is needed to confirm the link between the above health risks and ETS.

 

Carcinogenic Effects of ETS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More than 3,000 chemicals are present in tobacco smoke, including at least 60 known carcinogens such as nitrosamines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Some of these compounds become carcinogenic only after they are activated by specific enzymes (proteins that control chemical reactions) found in many tissues in the body. These activated compounds can then become part of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules and possibly interfere with the normal growth of cells. Tobacco also contains nicotine, a chemical that causes physical addiction to smoking and makes it difficult for people to stop smoking.

Although much of the research into the carcinogenicity of ETS has focused on lung cancer, ETS has also been linked with other cancers, including those in the nasal sinus cavity, cervix, breast, and bladder. The role of ETS in the development of nasal sinus cancer has been investigated in three recent studies; all three showed a significant positive association between ETS exposure and the development of nasal sinus cancer in nonsmoking adults. Several studies that focused on ETS as a risk factor for cervical cancer have shown a possible association between ETS and cancer of the cervix, although no specific conclusions could be made. Similarly, studies of the relationship between ETS exposure and breast cancer suggested an association between the two, but the evidence was weak. Although active smoking has been identified as a cause of bladder cancer, the results of studies focusing on ETS and bladder cancer have not been conclusive. More research is needed into the impact of ETS on nonsmokers' risk for cancers of the cervix, breast, and bladder.

Public Policies Restricting Smoking

Studies dating from the early 1970s have consistently shown that children and infants exposed to ETS in the home have significantly elevated rates of respiratory symptoms and respiratory tract infections. These findings prompted recommendations that ETS be eliminated from the environment of small children.

In adults, ETS can worsen existing pulmonary symptoms for people with asthma and chronic bronchitis, as well as for people with allergic conditions. Even individuals who are not allergic can suffer eye irritation, sore throat, nausea, and hoarseness. Contact lens wearers can find tobacco smoke very irritating.

Following the release of the 1986 reports by the Surgeon General and the NAS, many new laws, regulations, and ordinances were enacted that severely restrict or ban public smoking. With the release of new studies such as the 1999 NCI monograph, many more such laws can be expected:

 

- On the Federal level, the General Services Administration issued regulations restricting smoking to designated areas only in Federal office buildings. Many agencies within the Public Health Service, which includes the National Institutes of Health, have banned smoking completely.

- By law, smoking on all airline flights of 6 hours or less within the United States is banned; however, in practice, all U.S. airlines have banned smoking on all domestic flights. All interstate bus travel is smoke free.

- ETS meets the criteria of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for classification as a potential occupational carcinogen. (OSHA is the Federal agency responsible for health and safety regulations in the workplace.)

- The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is another Federal agency that is concerned with ETS exposure in the workplace. NIOSH conducts ETS-related research, evaluates work sites for possible health hazards, and makes safety recommendations. NIOSH recommends that ETS be regarded as a potential occupational carcinogen, in conformance with the OSHA carcinogen policy, and that exposures to ETS be reduced to the lowest possible levels.

- Currently, nearly every state has some form of legislation to protect nonsmokers; some states require private employers to enact policies that protect employees who do not smoke. Information about state-level tobacco regulations can be accessed through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluating (STATE) System Web site, which can be found at http://www2.cdc.gov/nccdphp/osh/state/ on the Internet. In addition to state legislation, a number of local jurisdictions have enacted ordinances addressing nonsmokers' rights, and most are more restrictive than their state counterparts.

Credits/Sources: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/ - http://cancer.gov

 

 

 

 

Smoking 'killed 5 million' in 2000

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Smoking killed nearly five million people in 2000, accounting for almost equal numbers in the developed and developing nations and painting a bleak picture for the future, scientists have said.

Men accounted for three-quarters of all the deaths, a figure rising to 84 percent in the developing nations where 930 million of the world's 1.1 billion smokers are to be found.

The figures are based on work done by researchers from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts and Australia's Queensland University, and published in the Lancet medical journal Friday.

The main causes of the tobacco-related deaths were heart and lung diseases, they noted.

The news comes as the major tobacco companies, increasingly under siege in the industrialized world, switch their sales efforts to emerging nations with their expanding populations and rising spending power.

"Our findings mark the beginning of an era when the majority of smoking-caused deaths occur in developing countries," lead author Majid Ezzati of Harvard said.

"Smoking-related deaths will rise substantially, especially in developing countries, unless effective intervention and policies to curb and reduce smoking among men and prevent rises among women are implemented," he added.

Ezzati said that although anti-smoking policies were being widely implemented in the developed world, they were lagging far behind in the poorer nations, which consequently faced a rising hazard.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that tobacco-related deaths will at least double by 2030 as smoking takes its toll of men in the developing world and more women start to take up the habit.

"This should provide a motivation to strengthen the case to implement tobacco control programs and policies, which have generally lagged in developing countries, worldwide," Ezzati said.

Earlier this year the WHO adopted a sweeping anti-tobacco treaty in a bid to curb the product that it said is a death warrant for half its habitual users.

Credits/Sources:http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/09/12/smoking.reut/index.html

 

 

 

 

LINKS:

www.CHAMPSS.comwww.TobaccoFreeKids.org