Stop Smoking before Cancer Attacking Yourself

Most people know that cancer is associated with smoking.  Unfortunately, many don’t truly realize the increased risks and seriousness of this disease, let alone its preventability.  Smoking is a toxin and, as such, it causes damage to every organ in the human body.  Therefore, it has been connected to at least 10 different types of cancers, including pancreas, bladder, kidney, cervix, esophagus, larynx, lung, and stomach, and is responsible for approximately 30% of cancer deaths.  

Lung Cancer

Sadly, more than 154,000 Americans died in 2002 from lung cancer, making it the number one cause of cancer deaths for both men and women.  Frighteningly, only 12-15% of patients who acquire lung cancer are currently being cured by cancer treatments, yet more than 90% of all cases of lung cancer are preventable because they are caused by smoking.
Symptoms of lung cancer include repeated attacks of bronchitis or pneumonia, coughing up blood, a nagging cough, loss or appetite, pain in the arm and chest, unexplained weight loss, wheezing, hoarseness, shortness of breath, and swelling of the face and arms.

Stop Smoking Before You Get Lung Cancer

Esophagus (Esophageal Cancer)

The esophagus is a muscular tube that is responsible for transporting food from the mouth to the stomach.  It occurs most often in men over 50 years old.  There are two forms of cancer of the esophagus.  One type, squamous cell cancer, is closely linked to smoking, as well as alcohol consumption. 
Symptoms of squamous cancer of the esophagus include pain or difficulty when swallowing, pain behind the breastbone, weight loss, indigestion, heartburn, cough, and hoarseness.

Stop Smoking Before You Get Esophageal Cancer

Read Also Stop Smoking Before You Get Throat Cancer and Bladder Cancer

Stop Smoking Before You Get Throat Cancer and Bladder Cancer

Throat Cancer

Throat cancer, also known as laryngeal cancer, vocal cord cancer, or cancer of the glottis, occurs when tumors form on the voice box, vocal chords, or other areas of the throat.  Smokers are at a greater risk of developing throat cancer, and those who smoke and drink alcohol are at an even greater risk.  Throat cancer occurs most often in adults over the age of 50.  In addition, men are 10 times more likely to develop throat cancer than women.

Symptoms of throat cancer include a sore throat that does not go away after one to two weeks, even after the use of antibiotics.  Hoarseness that persists for one to two weeks is another symptom.  General difficulty swallowing, neck pain, unintentional weight loss, swelling in the neck, coughing up blood, and high pitched breathing sounds are other symptoms.

Stop Smoking Before You Get Throat Cancer

Bladder Cancer

Stop Smoking Before You Get Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer generally occurs in the transitional cells of the bladder, which are the cells that line the bladder.  Smoking cigarettes makes a person five times more likely to develop bladder cancer.  In fact, up to 30% of women with bladder cancer and 50% of men are caused by smoking.  By the nature of the cancer, bladder cancer spreads to nearby organs, including the vagina, uterus, ureters, prostate, and rectum.  It is also capable of spreading to the pelvic lymph nodes, the bones, the lungs, and the liver.

Symptoms of bladder cancer include frequent urination, blood in the urine, painful urination, and urinary urgency.  Those with bladder cancer may also experience bone pain or tenderness, urinary incontinence, anemia, abdominal pain, weight loss, and lethargy.

Next reading Stop Smoking Before You Get Stomach Cancer and Kidney Cancer

Stop Smoking Before You Get Stomach Cancer and Kidney Cancer

Stomach Cancer

Stomach cancer, also known as gastric carcinoma, comes in a variety of forms.  The most common form Adenocarcinoma is the most common type of cancer affecting the digestive tract in the world.  It occurs most often in men over 40.  Diagnosis of stomach cancer is often delayed because there are not early symptoms or because sufferers mistake it for other less serious disorders, such as a sense of fullness, bloating, or gas.

Symptoms of stomach cancer include difficulty swallowing, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and feeling of fullness, abdominal pain, breath odor, excessive belching, excessive gas, weight loss, and a general decline in health.

Stop Smoking Before You Get Stomach Cancer

Kidney Cancer

Kidney cancer is also known as renal cancer, adenocarcinoma or renal cells, and hypernephroma.  It affects approximately 3 in 10,000 people and 12,000 people die every year from the cancer.  It is more common in men than and women, particularly affecting men over 55.  A history of smoking dramatically increases the likelihood of developing kidney cancer.  This cancer metastasizes, or spreads, very easily.  It most often spreads to the lungs or to other organs.  Sadly, nearly 1/3 of patients with kidney cancer have metastasized by the time it is diagnosed.

Symptoms of kidney cancer include abnormal urine color (such as rusty, dark, or brown), blood in the urine, back pain, weight loss, malnourished appearance, abdominal pain, enlargement of one testicle, and swelling of the abdomen.

Stop Smoking Before You Get Kidney Cancer

Have You Ever Sign a No-Smoking Contract?

Signing a no-smoking contract will allow you to further the mental change that you will be making when you decide to quit smoking.  The first thing that it will allow is a way of showing your motivation to kicking the habit of smoking.  The next thing that it will allow is for you to remind yourself of the commitment that you are making and sticking to by quitting smoking.  By having a physical no-smoking contract available to you, you are allowing yourself to be accountable to stop your habit as well as giving yourself a physical form of remind yourself of the intentions you have to quit smoking. 

  
Your contract will first allow you to be able to be accountable for the day that you decide to quit smoking on.  Once you decide the day that you decide to quit smoking, you should make your contract, starting out with the specified date.  It is important to keep this as the main commitment to yourself so that you can carry out with your plan.

The contract can then hold several things in order to help keep you motivated and committed to the process.  Most contracts that are written include all of the details of what you are signing.  Because of this, your no-smoking contract should be detailed and comprehensive.  The first thing to include in your contract can be the reasons for you quitting.  This may be for health reasons or because of relationships that are suffering because of your smoking habit.

The next thing to include in your contract is a list of those things that make you want to smoke, also known as triggers.  This may include spaces that make you crave a cigarette, or certain emotions, such as stress, that lead you to smoke.  By understanding these different trigger points and allowing yourself to commit to change them through the contract will help you carry out with your plan to quit smoking.  

Have You Ever Sign a No-Smoking Contract?

Another important part of your contract is outlining the different methods that you will be using to quit smoking.  This includes changing your environment and diet, as well as the use of physicians, smoking support groups, knowledge and friends and family to help you break your bad habit.  By knowing what positive aspects are changing from your desire to quit smoking, it will further motivate and commit you to leaving your smoking habit behind. 

Many no-smoking contracts include rewards that you will receive by quitting your smoking habit.  You can reward yourself in several ways, either by giving yourself smaller things at the end of each day, or by rewarding yourself with bigger things at the end of certain periods of time.  You can also include the rewards that you will receive through your changing health and changes in relationships on your contract.  By seeing what you will receive by carrying through the process of quitting your smoking habit, you will be able to commit easier to breaking your habit and staying with the contract.  

The next step to take with your no-smoking contract is to have someone else sign it who will help you prepare and be accountable for you to stop smoking.  Make sure that they know your plan and are willing to hold you responsible for quitting your habit.  This will give you extra support in your efforts and plans to stop smoking.  You may want to ask the person or people who sign the contract to help you in changing the trigger points as well as being included in the things such as the rewards.  This can further motivate you to quit smoking.  

Signing a no-smoking contract is one way of motivating you to stop smoking.  It will allow you to outline the necessary steps and plans that you need to take to quit smoking.  It will also give you a physical form to look at when you are going through the stages of withdrawal.  By having a contract, you will be able to stay focused on your goal.  This will allow you to have a consistent reminder and way to motivate yourself.  By having a no-smoking contract, you will also be able to keep a positive attitude while going through the hardest stages of giving up smoking.  Sticking to your plan to quit smoking is the key to successfully quitting.  This can be done easier by making yourself accountable for the different parts to your plan. 

Smoking Can Cause Gum Disease Or Oral Cancer

More serious problems with smoking and dental hygiene may include gum disease and oral cancer.  This can cause long term effects by someone who smokes.  The tobacco that moves into your system causes your immune system to limit how it can fight infection.  It also stops the growing of blood vessels.  Both of these contribute to one who smokes getting gum disease or oral cancer.

One of the ways that most smokers will get rid of bad breath is by using a certain type of smoke screen gum.  This will neutralize the odor causing bacteria on your tongue after you smoke a cigarette.  However, this type of gum is usually fairly expensive and does not eliminate the bad breath after you smoke another cigarette.  The bacteria is still able to move inside your mouth, and the chemicals that stick to your teeth, gums, tongue and cheeks still remain in place.  Most quick remedies that are there for smokers are used for shorter term fixes and are unable to eliminate the complex problems that form in your oral hygiene from smoking.   

The easiest way to prevent dental problems and bad breath is by stopping smoking all together.  This will begin to change several of the problems that have occurred with bad breath because of smoking.  After you quit smoking, the saliva in your mouth is able to move more freely.  This will naturally begin to get rid of the extra bacteria that were able to grow in your mouth.  The next thing that will happen is the blood vessels and the tissue cells will begin to repair.  Nutrients, such as Vitamin C, which were being killed by the bacteria before, will have a chance to repair and build back in your mouth.  This is one of the main agents that will fight the bacteria. 

Smoking Can Cause Gum Disease Or Oral Cancer

Eventually, the chemicals, tar and nicotine that were beginning to stay in your mouth will also be washed away.  This will leave no room for the bacteria to stay in your mouth and cause the bad breath.  When you quit smoking, your mouth will begin to rebuild the damaged areas.  These will not only help to prevent bad breath, but also things such as stained teeth, and more serious problems dealing with gum disease and oral cancer.  

Deciding to quit smoking is a choice that will help with your health in many areas, including your oral hygiene.  By deciding to quit smoking, your mouth will be able to function better and remain healthy.  If you want to eliminate your bad breath or smokers’ breath then deciding to quit smoking is the best way to do it. 

Smoking Makes Your Breath Stink

One of the effects that smoking has on you is that it causes bad breath as well as other dental problems.  There are several reasons why smoking causes problems with your breath and oral hygiene.  While there may be some temporary fixes to banish bad breath, the easiest way to get rid of the bad oral hygiene is to quit smoking.  

The main reason for bad breath when smoking is found to be caused by the chemicals found in cigarettes.  These are then moved into your mouth, where they can build up.   Tar and nicotine easily begin to build up on the mouth surfaces.  They can stick to places like the teeth, gums, tongue and side of the cheeks.  This causes smoker’s breath to form. 

Smoking Makes Your Breath Stink

One of the major results of the chemicals in the cigarettes is that it allows bacteria to form in your mouth.  The first way in which bacteria is able to stay in your mouth is from these chemicals.  When they stay on your mouth’s surface, it allows the bacteria to stick to certain places, giving them a place to thrive.  

Another reason why smoking causes bad breath, is because it dries out your mouth.  In consequence, this stops the saliva from continuously flowing and cleansing out your mouth.  This is what causes the growth of certain types of bacteria in your mouth, which then lead to a continuous odor on your breath.  Because the saliva is not able to move as freely, it can’t clean out the bacteria that move through your mouth.  These same parts of smoking also cause cavities and yellowing of teeth to form easier.  

Another reason why smoking will cause bad breath is because it raises the temperature in your mouth.  This causes oral tissue cells to be damaged and killed.  These will then not be able to protect the mouth efficiently, causing the bacteria to be able to move into the mouth easier.  This may eventually lead to more serious problems with your oral hygiene.  

Smoking can cause gum disease or oral cancer

Stop Smoking Right Now, Mom!

Once you make the decision to quit smoking and has a healthy future for you and your child, start the benefits. Twenty minutes after returning last cigarette, your blood pressure and pulse to normal. In the first three days is carbon dioxide and nicotine from the system to increase the levels of energy and breathe easier. One year after the arrest of the circulation will be improved ex-smokers, and increases in lung function. Ten years after quitting, the risk of lung cancer is 50% of smokers and the risk of a heart attack the same as non-smokers.

Even knowing all the benefits, however, is not always enough to take a break goal decent. Smokers who have kicked the habit successfully suggest some ways to deal with the difficult process of breaking nicotine addiction.

First, make a list of the reasons why it stopped. If someone who is pregnant or considering the health of your child is pregnant, on top of your list. This is a great opportunity to stop making excuses and to motivate yourself to stop in a certain period of time. Other reasons may include health and wellness, financial problems, or even better performance and get rid of the typical smell of tobacco. When you are tempted to smoke again, take your list and remind yourself why you prefer to stop.

Stop Smoking Right Now, Mom!

Another technique is tried and true is to surround yourself with support. Tell friends and family about your intention to stop and ask for their encouragement and patience throughout the process. Joining a support group set up specifically for people who quit smoking. Both online and local groups are available, depending on your preferences in a contact or 24/7 advice. Many groups such as the American Lung Association or American Cancer Society will help you find a support group or to offer support online. Another good place to look for support is a provider of health or insurance.

If you smoke before, during or after pregnancy, putting both your health and your baby's health at risk. If you stop smoking, however, benefit begins 20 minutes after the first cigarette and continued for many years to come. Ensure a healthy start for your baby to stop smoking today!

Smoking Can Harm Your Baby

As a smoker, you put at risk the health of each of cigarettes, cigars or tobacco products you use. But the stakes climb higher if you are pregnant or think you may be pregnant. Learn how smoking affects: your chances of getting pregnant, the health of your baby during pregnancy and well-being during the first year after the birth of your baby.

Smoking Can Harm Your Baby

Pregnant

If you are currently using oral contraceptives and smoke, you are more at risk of heart disease and hypertension. Smokers only 72 percent of the fertility of a smoker. Male smokers also face a risk of 50 percent higher than impotence. Research shows that smoking can reduce the response to stop ovulation and fertilization and implantation of the zygote.

It is also believed that the chemicals cause cervical fluid tobacco toxic to sperm, which greatly increases the difficulty of conceiving. It also indicates that the toxins in cigarette gene mutations, which can cause lead to birth defects, cancer, miscarriages, and many other health problems for children of smokers. Mutations of this gene will be the child whose father is a smoker, not only influence the mothers.

Pregnancy and childbirth

During pregnancy tobacco smoke chemistry is inherited from the mother to the fetus through the bloodstream. These chemicals, toxic to the mother and the child, posing a serious risk. Studies have shown that smoking during pregnancy is associated with a variety of health problems, including low birth weight, placenta previa, premature labor, premature rupture of membranes, miscarriage, and neonatal mortality. If infants had mothers who smoked during pregnancy, child is nicotine in the blood are the same mother. In the first days after birth, a parent of the child smoking experience withdrawal symptoms.

Postnatal

After birth, the baby's health continues to suffer from a mother or a father smoking. During the first year, will be children with parents who smoke experience a higher risk of pneumonia and bronchitis. Children of smokers are at greater risk of frequent, severe asthma attack.

Children exposed to secondhand smoke (passive smoking) are more susceptible to the adverse effects of hair due to their increased respiratory rate. Cigarette smoke can cause children to have more colds, respiratory problems, ear pain, and diseases that require the assistance of a doctor. Asthma or allergies can worsen when children are exposed to cigarette smoke. Finally, the children of smokers are at greater risk themselves to be smokers.

Stop Smoking right Now

Lung Cancer Causes and Types

As previously mentioned, cigarette smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer. Exposure to secondhand smoke, asbestos and other industrial carcinogens, and high concentrations of radon are other potential causes of lung cancer. In particular, smokers who experience exposure to asbestos or radon are even more at risk for cancer than nonsmokers.

A cancer is named by the body part in which it originated. So even if a nonsmoker has cancer in the kidney that spreads (metastasizes) to the lungs, it is considered metastatic kidney cancer. Nonsmokers rarely get lung cancer, and smoking does not affect the spread of cancer from other body parts to the lungs.

Of cancers originating in the lungs, there are two main types: small cell and non-small cell. Small cell cancer afflicts smokers almost exclusively, and spreads early on during the course of the disease. This type of cancer is typically treated with chemotherapy and radiation, as surgery is generally not an option. However, the five-year survival rate is very low. 

More than 75 percent of lung cancers are non-small cell. The four main types of non-small cell cancer are squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, large cell carcinoma, and bronchoaveolar carcinoma. If caught early in the course of the disease, non-small cell cancer can often be surgically removed. Adenocarcinoma is common for nonsmokers and people exposed to secondhand smoke. On the other hand, bronchoaveolar carcinoma tends to occur more often in smokers and in more than one location simultaneously.

Lung Cancer Causes and Types

Conclusion

Causing nearly 90 percent of lung cancer cases, smoking is by far the greatest risk factor for this disease. However a decade after quitting, your risk of lung cancer is reduced by one-third. Reducing the number of cigarettes smoked can also reduce the risk, although it is not nearly as effective as quitting entirely.

Stop Smoking If You Don't Want To Suffer From Lung Cancer

Although smoking can cause many different physical ailments, one of the most serious diseases associated with tobacco use is lung cancer. Smoking causes 87 percent of all cases of lung cancer. The leading cause of cancer deaths in America, lung cancer costs more people their lives than prostate, colon, lymph, and breast cancer combined.

The risk of lung cancer increases the longer you smoke, and the more cigarettes you smoke regularly. However, if you quit smoking—even after many years—you can still greatly reduce your risk of lung cancer. Prevention of the disease is very important because lung cancer typically is not found until it has reached an advanced stage. The survival rate for lung cancer victims, although improving, is still below that of many other cancers.

The most common symptom of lung cancer is usually a cough. This cough is caused by a tumor blocking passage of air or irritating the airway lining. Other symptoms include coughing up blood, chest pain, a “smoker’s cough” that grows worse, repeated bouts of pneumonia or bronchitis, shortness of breath, fatigue, appetite and subsequent weight loss, or hoarseness lasting over two weeks. Sometimes, lung cancer spreads to other parts of the body (also called metastasizing), and may cause headaches or bone pain. 

Stop Smoking If You Don't Want To Suffer From Lung Cancer

Background

Human lungs are paired organs that occupy the majority of the chest cavity, located on either side of the heart. The left lung has two lobes and the right lung has three. The pleura, a thin membrane, cover the lungs. Likewise, airway and windpipe linings have surface cells (columnar epithelium) and glands that produce mucus and other fluids.

Air travels from the nose or mouth through the trachea, which separates into two bronchi that enter either lung. Within the lungs, the bronchi continue dividing into smaller tubules, the smallest of which is called the alveoli. Alveoli are grouped in clusters, or lobules, which are then grouped into lobes. An alveolus is surrounded by capillaries. Capillaries are part of the pulmonary blood vessels that connect the lungs to the heart. Blood flows through the capillaries, carbon dioxide is delivered into the alveoli, and oxygen is diffused in the bloodstream.

The columnar epithelium (airways and windpipe lining) in healthy lungs divide in an orderly, controlled manner. When a person has lung cancer, these cells continue to reproduce past the point when new cells are needed. Lung cancer may take years to develop, but lung tissue may start to change immediately after being exposed to carcinogens in cigarette smoke. Continued smoking means more exposure to carcinogens; normal cells become more damaged and may become cancerous. Because of the great reach of the lung’s cells throughout the body, cancerous cells may spread throughout the body (metastasize) more easily.

Continue reading Lung Cancer Causes and Types