Many health professionals are encouraging smokers to quit smoking because of the harm that it may bring to their health. Smoking continues to be one of the major causes of illness and death around the world. Medical studies show that smoking-related ailments may kill close to 50 percent of all smokers and impair the health of countless individuals. The average expectancy of long-term smokers may be reduced to eight to 12 years compared to non-smokers. One of the major causes of death among smokers is lung cancer. In the United States, lung cancer ranks second after heart disease for males, and third after heart and cardiovascular disease for females.
Lung cancer is a smoke-related ailment that is caused by smoking or inhaling secondhand smoke, exposure to environmental pollutants like asbestos and radon gas, and family history of lung cancer may increase the risk of developing lung cancer of certain individuals. Smoking marijuana is also considered another factor that may contribute to the development of lung cancer. In addition to these causes, individuals whose lungs were damaged by other lung conditions may also increase their lung cancer risk. Among these causes, smoking is the major source of this ailment and has taken the lives of about 80-85 percent of lung cancer patients.
Most lung cancers originate in the cells that line the bronchi, a caliber of airway in the respiratory tract that transfers air into the lungs. It may take years before lung cancer develops and hamper the function of the lungs. Shortness of breath could be the early signs of lung cancer because tumors may block movement of air through the bronchi and the lungs. In addition, tumors may also hamper the normal movement of mucus up into the throat, this may cause mucus buildup and lead to infection. If not diagnosed and treated in its early stages, lung cancer may spread to other parts of the body.
