Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1980-03-27, Page 41TalkJad How many times have you heard smokers say "I wish 1 Mild quit" or "Maybe ought to quit" the smoking habit? How many smokers do you know who 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 sorp.ehow well, you never seem to get around to It_ 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 few physicians smoke. And he'll be gladto 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? Are low tar and ' nicotine cigarettes 'safer'' .than those with higher levels? Are cigarettes more 'clearly implicated in cancer than are cigars and pipes? • Most im- portant , •if you've rnade, 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 tolling 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 sinokers. Even more compelling were the death rates according to amount smoked: these were 52 per 100,000 for smokers of fewer than 15 cigarettes aday, 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 likely to get lung eancer than if you didn't smoke at all. But it's not only lung cancer. Cancers of many types as well as a variety of other diseases are also linked with smoking. As the authors of the British report •. put 'it: "The raticc of the death rate among cigarette smokers to that among lifelong nonsmokers of comparable_agamas.,,..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 smoking. 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.. InCanada, 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 more • adult smokers than non- smokers. .The Canadian Cancer Society in co-operation with the College .of Family Physiciansof Canada wants to tip. the balance even further in favour of the nonsmoking majority. Why don'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. Remen:lber, 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 firt place. trachea bronchial cartilage 741:0:'e'c4414)4\ bronchial mucosa cilia columnar epithelial cells 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 inhaler- air enters the lungs through tubes called bronchi. Cells of the lung hare 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. Still other cells carry impurities away via the blood stream or lymph system. Constant • irritation of the bronchial lining by cigarette smoke causes the cilia to disappear.. Mucus, without 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 t� notmal. However, con- • tinued smoking causet 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 has been smoking one or two packs a day for the last 20' to 40 years and • uSifally'lle began smoking when he was very • young— —under age 15. The risk of dying from lung caricer 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 sthis 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 and esophageal cancers as dononsmokers. ' 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 petsons 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 • deV eloped mesothelloma; a rare form of lung cancer, 20 to 30 years later. The families 'of industrial . workers may also " he 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. Facts about Awag cancer Here are the faGt about cancer of the lung —signs and sym- ptoms, progress in • diagnosis and treatment, prognosis and hope for the future. Lung veneer strikes more than 100,000 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. Why? Because, unlike most cancers the causes, of which continue to baffle res'earchers 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 page 5 disease. dills has been roved by the results off epidemiologic, clinical, autopsy, and ex- perimental • data ac- cumulated over more than 25 years. The best safeguard against lung cancer isnot 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 person who -has nev-er smoked. Prevention Many cancers can- be prevented. For example, it i estimated that 25 percent of all cancer deaths are caused. by cigarette smoking — all easily preventable." Protect yourself and your family- by knowing and acting upon the Seven , aj.or ....cause of Canada? • What's happening in Yearly deaths from lung cancer -per .100,000 people 1940 1950 1960 1970 • Yearly consumption of cigarettes per person over 1 5 years 1940 1950 • 1960 1970 WHAT MORE CAN WE SAY? This informative publication IS brought to you with the kind co-operation of the follow GODERICH PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION 144 ',TOM iROM COAST.TO•COASI CANADIAN OWNED Suncoast McilI GODERICH -..zegazaanussaccrosemsomemar • THE • PRINT • SHOP 36 NEWGATE ST Phone 524-7862 lug Quality Job Printing OFFSET and LETTERPRESS