We know that it’s a habit like drugs or drinking that becomes an addiction, but it still does not answer why people really start even though they know all the risks. So what do we do about it? Do we ban smoking completely? Well we know that won’t happen as the Governments around the world get so much tax revenue from the trade in cigarettes.

In the UK they recently tried to reduce secondary smoke inhalation by banning smoking in offices and public buildings. This has reduced the amount of secondary smoke but has not significantly reduced Lung cancer risk or the number of habitual smokers.

A great way of describing Lung Cancer “is the breakdown in law and order of cell growth in the body”. This means that cells begin dividing and growing in any manner and the resulting chaos and breakdown in normal cell growth is called cancer. Cancer normally appears as a tumour or growth. In some cases cancer remains in its original location but in serious cases it spreads to other organs.

You cannot ignore the risks of getting lung cancer from tobacco smoke. It has been worked out that if someone smokes 20 cigarettes a day they are at a 30 times greater risk at getting lung cancer than a non smoker. Now if that smoker continues to smoke that risk of getting lung cancer continues to rise and the risk of contacting other problems like emphysema become greater.

When somebody quits smoking they are giving their body a chance of living longer and reduce the risk of getting smoking related diseases. It is not however a case of quit today better tomorrow. If the smoker has been smoking for 10 years it will take 15 years for them to reduce their risks down to that of a non smoker. So if a person started smoking at 20, quit at 30, they would be 45 before they were at the same risk as other 45 year olds.