“These smokers have higher levels of nicotine and possibly other tobacco toxins in their body, and they may be more addicted than smokers who refrain from smoking for a half hour or more,” said Dr. Muscat. "It may be a combination of genetic and personal factors that cause a higher dependence to nicotine.”
Tobacco use causes about 90 percent of lung cancer death in men and 80 percent in women. Tobacco use is attributed to many other types of cancer as well, including mouth, throat and tongue cancers, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, bladder, stomach, cervix, kidney and pancreatic cancers, and acute myeloid leukemia.
A 2011 National Research Council report shows the U.S. life expectancy is now lower than most every other industrialized country and cigarette smoking is to blame. While smoking rates among Americans continue to decline—now 23.5 percent for men and 17.9 percent for women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention— the number of people who smoked during the mid-1950s was around 57 percent. The impact of smoking several decades ago is reflected by our current life expectancy rate, the council report says.
Lynette Summerill, an award-winning writer and scuba enthusiast lives in San Diego, CA. In addition to writing about cancer-related issues for EmpowHER, her work has been seen in newspapers and magazines around the world.
Sources: Cancer. Nicotine dependence phenotype, time to first cigarette, and risk of head and neck cancer. Joshua E. Muscat, Kwangmi Ahn, John P. Richie Jr., and Steven D. Stellman. Article first published online: 8 AUG 2011 | DOI: 10.1002/cncr.26235 Abstract and article at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cncr.26235/abstract
Cancer. Nicotine dependence phenotype and lung cancer risk. Joshua E. Muscat, Kwangmi Ahn, John P. Richie Jr and Steven D. Stellman. Article first published online: 8 AUG 2011 | DOI: 10.1002/cncr.26236 Abstract and article at:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cncr.26236/abstract
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General.
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