50% of Smokers Die from Smoking; 10% of Smokers Die from Lung Cancer
Cigarettes are the single greatest killer of human health; on the list of causes of human death, smoking ranks first. By 2030, about 8.3 million people worldwide will die from various tobacco-related diseases, and tobacco-related deaths will account for roughly 10% of all global deaths. Cigarettes shorten a smoker's lifespan by an average of 10 years; the longer the smoking history and the more cigarettes smoked per day, the greater the damage. About half of all smokers will die from smoking-related diseases. Among the current top five global causes of death — heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, lower respiratory tract infections, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — tobacco is the main cause of three.In China, two-thirds of men begin smoking before age 25. Despite continuous improvements in medical care, of the country's current 300 million young smokers, an estimated 100 million will die from smoking-related diseases. Besides lung cancer, lower respiratory tract infections, and COPD, smoking also causes other cancers and diseases.Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, accounting for 17.6% of all cancer mortality. Cigarettes are the main causative factor of lung cancer; worldwide, about 1.18 million people die of lung cancer each year (about 850,000 men and 330,000 women). More than 90% of male and more than 80% of female lung cancer patients have a smoking history. The cigarettes men smoke tend to have higher tar content, and they develop more squamous cell carcinomas; the cigarettes women smoke tend to have higher nitrosamine content, and they develop more adenocarcinomas. Besides smoking, cooking fumes are also an important cause of lung cancer in Chinese women; long-term inhalation of particulate matter from kitchen fumes raises women's cancer risk.Global smoking rates are still rising rapidly. Initially, the world consumed about 10 billion cigarettes a year; this rose to 2.15 trillion in 1960, then to 5.604 trillion in 2002, and is estimated to reach 9 trillion by 2025. China has the world's largest smoking population, and therefore also the world's highest incidence of lung cancer.Western countries are at the forefront of tobacco control, so cigarette-related mortality there has dropped markedly in recent years. In China, due to cultural tradition, relatives, friends, and colleagues often exchange cigarettes when gathering, and cigarettes are given as gifts during festivals as a matter of courtesy. In some places, cigarettes have even become hard currency in the gift market. This bad habit keeps the smoking population high, and young people easily take up smoking under the influence of their surroundings. In my observation, smokers are everywhere among Beijing's high school and vocational high school students.Diseases caused by cigarettes impose a heavy economic burden on Chinese residents. The earlier a smoker quits, the better for themselves and their family. Those who have quit for five or more years show a marked drop in the prevalence of smoking-related diseases; after ten years the effect is even more obvious. Those who have quit for fifteen years or more have risks close to those of nonsmokers.Choose a spouse carefully. If the spouse you are considering smokes and you do not, your exposure to secondhand smoke will increase greatly. Secondhand smoke is also very harmful; people exposed long-term to secondhand smoke have a significantly higher risk of smoking-related diseases than those who avoid it. Moreover, e-cigarettes are not much less harmful than cigarettes.For the health of yourself and your family, consciously refuse cigarettes. Those already addicted should quit as early as possible. Have the courage to say no to people who smoke in public places; smokers should also consciously smoke away from crowds to avoid harming others.