What is the risk of smoking?

---

Most patients who smoke will develop damage to different body organs.

Probably the most frequent damage is to the lungs, in the form of chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), bronchitis and emphysema. This damage results in cough, production of sputum, respiratory infections, reduction of exercise capability and eventually, disability and death. A recent population study has shown that at least 30% of smokers sustain such damage to the lung.

Damage to the lung is demonstrable through inexpensive and non-invasive pulmonary function testing (PFT). Showing the patient the amount of damage already done to his lung as expressed in relative lung age can help to convince him that he needs to quit.

Smoking causes lung cancer as well as cancer of the mouth and tongue, throat, larynx, esophagus and trachea.

These cancers take many years to develop, and are rare under the age of forty.

A middle aged patient who has been a long term smoker has a risk of 1-2% per decade of having a lung cancer. As he gets older, the risk/decade increases to 2-3% per decade. This adds up to a risk of approximately 10% for long term cigarette smokers during a lifetime.

If a person has had and been cured of a lung cancer, the risk of his developing a second cigarette-related cancer is as high as 25% in the next decade!

A person who has had a lung cancer also has an increased risk of developing a second cancer of the mouth, tongue, pharynx, larynx and esophagus. This combined risk is approximately 5% in a decade.

Smokers also have a much higher risk of cardiovascular illness than non- smokers, including

1. heart attack,
2. peripheral vascular disease and
3. stroke.

In sum total, cigarette smoking results in the premature death of at least 430,000 Americans each year, with an average of 10 years of productive life lost per person.

Many millions die worldwide.