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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1980-03-27, Page 27P#ge .u5 • Talk to Row many times have you heard smokers say "I wish I could quit or "Maybe I ought, to. quit" the smoking habit? How many smokers do you know whd wouldn't really rather be in._ the non-smoking majority? Perhaps you're one of them.' You've read the reports linking . smoking and cancer; you've seen the warning notice on cigarette packs...possibly you've been coughing more, You've thought about quitting, but somehow, well, you never, seenytirgetaround-to doctor YOUR DOCTOR CAN HELP Why not talk with him about it? You can be sure there'll be no finger wagging and moralizing. Your doctor's too busy to start giving sermons to all his . smoking patients. But he does see -- every day in his practice — the effects of smoking on people's health, That's why very few physicians smoke. And 'he'll be glad to talk with you about smoking and health. There may be some specific things you'd like to ask about: Why do people smoke, and what goes inside them when they do? What does inhaled tobacco smoke do to the delicate—tissue of the lung? Is inhaling more dangerous than not inhaling? inhaling? Are low tar and nicotine cigarettes 'safer' .than - those with higher levels? Are cigarettes more clearly implicated in cancer than are cigars and pipes? Mostim- portant, if you've made up your mind to quit...what's the best way to do it? - Some people quit for economic reasons (the price of a pack a day for a year would get you a Caribbean vacation) ; for present health reasons (coughing, breathing difficulties); or to safeguard their future health against cancer and a variety of other smoking-related diseases. HOW HARMFUL IS IT? • The evidence linking smoking to lung cancer is. overwhelming., Ask your doctor to give you .some figures on it. He may have read one recent report in which over 34,000 of his medical colleagues in Britain were studied over a 20 - year period. The annual death rate for lung cancer was 10 per 100,000 in non-smokers; 104 for smokers. Even more • conpelling were the death rates according to amount smoked: these were 5; per MAW for smokers -of fewer than 15 cigarettes a day, 106 for 15 to 24 cigarettes and 224 for those who smoked more than 25 a day. So you can ' see that smoking_ represents a colossal gamble with• your health. And the more you smoke, the bigger the gamble ' becomes. if you smoke a pack a day, according to the results gathered in this British study, you're more than 20 times as lfkelY-to—get lung cailc.�er than if you didn't smoke at all. But it's not only lung cancer. Cancers of many types as weltns a variety of other diseases are also linked with smoking. As the authors .of the British report put it: "The ratio of --the -death rate among cigarette smokers to that among lifelong nonsmokers of comparable age was, for men under 70 years, about two to one". This suggests, they concluded, that between a half and a third of all cigarette smokers will die because of their smoking. Ah, ,lifelong non- smokers, you notice. Sure, your lungs aren't going—to—return to their pristine pinkness the day after you stop smokirrg. But statistics. do show that, eventually, ex- smokers take on a low risk rate that's close to that for those who have never smoked. In Canada, nonsmokers now form about 58 per- cent . of the population over the age of 15; a decade'' ago they had a slender majority of 51.6 percent; before that, there were moreadult smokers than non- smokers. The Canadian Cancer Society in co-operation with the College of Family Physician's of Canada wants to tip the balance even further in favour of the nonsmoking majority. Whydon't you join in? Talk to your doctor now about what's at stake. Talk about your . own health as it relates to smoking. Talk about health in general and smoking. Remember, your family doctor is there not only to put things right with you when they go wrong. He's also in the business of preventive medicine — trying to stop things from going wrong in the first place. bronchial cartilage bronchial mucosa columnar ._� eptrtr tz7It celts ' Whys -Because;---unlike aper -song._ who-..has..r►e_uer __-,_..� .. most cancers the causes smoked. lung cancer Here are the facts about cancer of , the lung ----signsand sym- ptoms, progress in diagnosis -and treatment,• pregngsis and hope for the future. Lung cancer , strikes more than 100,0.00 persons in the United States each year. It is the leading cause of cancer deaths among men, and the death rate among women is steadily increasing. Although the disease is among the most lethal of cancers, more than 80 percent of all lung can- cers are preventable. disease, This has been proved ntbye results of el$idemiologic,clinical, autopsy, r and ex- perimental data ac- cumulated Ayer more than 2„5 years. The best safeguard against lung cancer is not to start smoking cigarettes. The best protection for those who do smoke' is to stop., The risk of lung cancer 'decreases after only one year of not smoking; after 10 years, the risk for the ex-smoker of developing. lung cancer approaches that of a Smoking causes lung cancer The healthy lung is efficient; it brings needed oxygen into the body and expels carbon dioxide to the air. When we inhale, air enters the lungs through tubes called bronchi. Cells of the lung are self -cleansing. Certain cells that line the bronchi produce mucus to wash out foreign. materials. Other cells, equipped with tiny hairs called cilia, sweep the .mucus towards the throat__S till othercells, carry impurities away via the blood stream or lymph systema . Constant irritation of the bronchial lining by cigarette smoke causes the cilia to disappear. Mucus, witlibut the cilia to sweep it into the throat in the cleansing action, remains trapped in the bronchi until forced out by what is known as "smoker's cough.” If a smoker quits at the time. of early cellular changes, the bronchial lining will eventually return to normal. However, con- tinued smoking causes the cells to form ab- normal growth patterns and eventually to turn into cancer. The typical male lung cancer patient is between the ages of 60 and 69. He hasbeen smoking one or two packs a day for the last 20 to 40 years and usually he began smoking when he was very young- —under age 15. The risk of dying from lung cancer for these smokers is 15 to 20 times greater than for men who have never smoked. The high risk woman smoker is between the ages of 55 and 64. She has been smoking , one or more packs of cigarettes a day for 20 years and she began smoking before she was 20 years old. The chance of this woman dying of lung cancer is about five times that of a woman who never smoked. Pipe and cigar smokers are more likely to get lung cancer than non- smokers— but much less so than cigarette smokers. And they have three to five times the risk of developing mouth ,anl,- esophageal - cancers_ as as do nonsmokers. Occupational hazards account for very few deaths from lung cancer compared - to cigarette smoking. However, all occupational causes of cancer should be iden- tified and controlled. Thus far, studies have shown that persons develop more cases of lung cancer than the general population after frequent and long- standing exposure to one of the following.: asbestos fibers, chromium .compounds, . bis- chlormethyl ether,, coal tar products, vinyl chloride, and uranium dusts. The worker in industries utilizing these substances faces a greater risk of lung cancer even years after exposure. World War II shipyard workers ex- posed to asbestos have developed mesothelioma; a rare form of lung cancer, 20 to 30 years later. The families of industrial workers may also . be subject to an increased risk. In one study, 35 percent of the wives .and children of asbestos workers had lung abnormalities in X- rays, and two individuals. had mesothelioma. of which continue to • baffle researchers r!evE'11t1011 throughout the world, the major cause of lung cancer is known. It is cigarette smoking. While some cases of lung cancer are -caused by inhaling mining dusts or chemicals, there is no question but that cigarette smoking is the - major cause of the Many cancers pan be prevented. For example, it is estimated that 25 percent of all cancer deaths are caused by cigarette smoking — all easily preventable. Protectyourself and your family by knowing and acting upon the Seven Steps to Health. What's happening in Canada? • Yearly deaths from lung cancer per 100,000 people 1940 1950 1960 1970 Yearly consumption.of cigarettes per person over 15 years 1940 1950 1960 1970 WHAT MORE CAN WE SAY? This informative publication is bought to you with the kind co-operation of the following GODERICH PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION 104 STORES FROM COAST-TO-COAST CANADIAN OWNED Suncoast Mall GODERICH o THE o P R I N T S qualify Job Printing ° SHOP Att 36 NE.WG ATE ST. Phone 524-7862 OFFSET and LETTERPRESS