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Smoking, the leading cause of lung cancer

There are many diseases that are mysteries to us. Whether it's the common cold, or influenza, or breast or testicular cancer, even the m... thumbnail 1 summary


There are many diseases that are mysteries to us. Whether it's the common cold, or influenza, or breast or testicular cancer, even the most common of diseases can flummox the medical establishment. Yes, we know how to treat some symptoms or remove some tumors, but we don't know how the disease starts in the first place. And that's an issue because preventative medicine is the best medicine - as your mom used to say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

There's no such mystery when it comes to sussing out the cause of lung cancer, however. Everyone from the youngest child to the elderly know that the number one cause of lung cancer is smoking. It's simply the worst thing you can do for your body on a number of levels, and there's no more obvious way than when seeing smoking as the leading cause of lung cancer.

And it's important to understand that the cause of lung cancer in most Americans is smoking, and lung cancer causes more deaths in the united states than any other cancer. For both men and women.

In 2007 alone, more than one hundred sixty thousand people were projected to die in the United STates of lung cancer. To put it into context, that's more than breast cancer, colorectal cancer and prostate cancer combined.

And lung cancer is very deadly. If you've had it identified only after it's spread to other parts of your body, then your chances of surviving at least five years are just two percent. If you're diagnosed earlier, your chances of survival raise almost to fifty percent.

Compare that with testicular cancer, where even after it's metasticized your survival rate is close to eighty five percent. If you've identified your testicular cancer before metasticization, the survival rate is nearly one hundred percent.

So there's really no reason at all to continue smoking. Take it from me, a former smoker - I used to smoke a pack a day through high school, college and through to my mid-twenties. It was only after I really educated myself on the primary cause of lung cancer that I found the strength enough to quit. And now I'm working on six and a half years without buying a pack of smokes.

So do yourself a favor and quit smoking now, before it's too late. And that's the thing to remember: It's never too late to quit smoking. Even if you have terminal lung cancer, your chances of surviving longer are increased if you quit smoking.