I know this is a stupid question but I'm so tensed, please help.I'm 18 and I've started smoking in October 2009 and smoked for about 1 month, about 30 cigarettes in total. Then I quit it and on a part night I've smoked about 4 cigarettes in November 26, 2010. It's been 1 year and no symptom of Lung cancer has been shown till now, but I read somewhere that it may take even years to show signs of the disease and may be even 1 cigarette can cause cancer. I'm f!@#$g tensed and scared. Somebody please tell me is it true that even if I smoked last year only, cancer symptoms can come later only ? HELP ANSWER ME !! URGENT !!
Thank you in advance !
michael - Man no ur paranoid
ReplyDeleteTina - Ir varies from person to person. For lung cancer, the first symptoms are usually coughing over a long period of time. If you notice that you're coughing but you don't have the flu or the cold, then you should go see the doctor immediately.
ReplyDeleteQ - You sound like me! lol
ReplyDeleteMy dad calls me a hypochondriac because I've had a ringing in my ear for over a year and anytime I get a headache I tell him that I think I have a brain tumor.
I still think I might... :p but definitely don't scare yourself into thinking you have cancer. What are your symptoms anyway?
Shergill - Hi Akki,
ReplyDeleteThe statistical probability of developing cancer increases with the number of cigarettes smoked and the duration (number of years of smoking).
If you had never smoked a cigarette it did not mean that you would never get lung cancer. A small proportion of non-smokers end up getting lung cancer.
If you want to continue smoking you may do so as I cannot assure you that you will NEVER get lung cancer. However, if you smoke you increase your probability of getting lung cancer, cancer of the tongue, bronchus, hypertension, heart attacks, COPD. CAD, PVD and many more not so nice diseases. You will die younger if you choose to smoke. I hope you exercise the right choices. Good luck. Yes, it takes up to 20 years of smoking to develop cancer but there is no telling, it may also happen in three years.
lo_mcg - Lung cancer is almost unheard of in people under 40; 18 year olds do NOT get lung cancer.
ReplyDeleteAnd smoking relatedlung cancer takes decades to develop; it's the length of time you've been a smoker, rather than how much you smoke, that's the risk factor
You smoked for a short time and quit completely over a year ago; your risk of developing lung cancer later in life will have returned to that of a lifelong non-smoker.
Anyone who gives up smoking at any age, even a lifelong smoker aged 60, reduces their chances of developing lung cancer dramatically. The younger they give up, the greater the reduction in risk.
Cancer Research UK says:
'A lifelong male smoker has a cumulative risk of 15.9% for developing lung cancer by age 75. For men who cease smoking at ages 60, 50, 40 and 30 years, their cumulative risk of dying from lung cancer falls to 9.9%, 6.0%, 3.0% and 1.7% respectively.'