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Smoking cigarettes exposes your lungs to at least 49 carcinogens, such as formaldehyde and ammonia. Your lungs have natural defenses, which are being destroyed each time you take a puff on a cigarette, forcing your lungs to work harder to oxygenate the cells of the body.
Smoking also depletes the elastin, an enzyme that enables lung flexibility. Without elastin, you are more susceptible for the development of emphysema.
While smoking a cigarette, tar coats your lungs every time you inhale. Not only does this damage your lungs, but damages your heart as well. Smoking is the cause of 160,000 heart related deaths per year in the United States. In addition to this, smoking causes a rise in blood pressure and increases clotting time, leading to strokes.
Effects of Smoking on the lungs:
The lungs contain tiny air sacs called alveoli. The alveoli are responsible for the exchange of oxygen and gases through a thin layer of epithelial cells. The surface of alveoli are covered with a thin layer of pulmonary surfactant, that keeps the alveoli from collapsing on exhalation.
Smoking causes damage the alveoli, preventing their ability to receive oxygen from the blood. Smoking causes 90% of all lung cancer deaths in men and 80% in women.
Lung Cancer:
You don't necessarily have to smoke to get lung cancer. There are reported cases of people who have died from lung cancer who have never smoked in their lives. Of 20,000 new cases, ten to fifteen percent of these new cases are people who never smoked. Other causes of lung cancer include:
- Second-hand smoke.
- Arsenic Asbestos.
- Chromium Radon gas - the number one cause of lung cancer in those who don't smoke.
- Excessive exposure to radiation
How lung cancer develops:
Lung cancer presents due to the exposure to carcinogens in the air, often in the places where we live and work, resulting in lesions or tumor growth. Tumors are an uncontrolled overgrowth of cells.
These mutated cells form growths that can be benign (noncancerous) or malignant (cancerous). They begin to grow and cause obstructions, later pressing on other nearby organs causing extreme pain. Most lung cancers aren't found until they are in their later stages.
How is lung cancer treated?
Treatment is totally dependent upon the type and extent of the malignancy, as well as the patient's health. Choice of treatments include surgical intervention, radiation, chemotherapy, or a combination of these choices.
Clinical trials of new and innovative procedures is another avenue that can be taken. Your doctor will have information on clinical trials that may be available to take part in.
