How Quitting Smoking Lowers Lung Cancer Risk and Other Illnesses

Preventing lung cancer is best achieved by not smoking. People often assume that all lung cancer patients are smokers because of the strong link between smoking and lung cancer.

In reality, the intention to stop smoking is not that straightforward. The good news is that it is never too late to quit. By quitting, individuals can experience better lung health and an improved sense of well-being.

• By quitting before age 35, you can completely remove the risk of dying from cancer.
• For people who have quit smoking - the remaining healthy cells can replace the damaged ones. This helps lower the risk of lung cancer.
• Quitting smoking offers health benefits beyond reduced cancer risks. Some of these benefits can be felt within minutes.

The American Cancer Society recently found that quitting smoking greatly reduces the extra risk of dying from smoking-related cancers. If one stops smoking before turning 35, they can almost certainly reverse the risk of dying from lung cancer.

The study also showed that people can reverse the risk at any age, even if they decide to quit smoking in their 60s. However, the reversal effect decreases gradually as the age of quitting increases. Therefore, stop smoking as early as possible is optimal.

“Quitting smoking has health benefits at any age, no matter how long or how much you have smoked,”

– Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

People who quit smoking have genetically healthier lung cells that protect against lung cancer. It lowers the risk of ever-smokers developing lung cancer.

A Nature paper showed that current smokers have up to 10,000 more genetic mutations than non-smokers. Ninety percent of lung cells in current smokers contain these genetic mutations. Out of these mutated cells, a quarter of them contain one cancer-causing mutation.

However, if a person stops smoking, they have a sizable number of healthy cells lining their airways. These cells are almost as healthy as those in never smokers, with much less genetic damage from smoking. Healthy cells can replace those damaged by smoking. This reduces the number of damaged cells and may lower cancer risk.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists the following health benefits of smoking cessation:

• IMPROVES life expectancy and quality of life
• LOWERS the risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases
• LOWERS the risk of getting other lung diseases and injuries. This includes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchitis and pneumonia
• IMPROVES lung function
• LOWERS the adverse effects of smoking on fetal growth
• IMPROVES the health of pregnant ladies, their fetuses and babies
• LOWERS the risk of 12 different cancers

Quitting smoking, no matter how long or how much you smoked in the past, offers substantial health benefits. The key message resonates clearly: it is never too late to quit.

While quitting can be challenging, interventions are available to assist in the process, ranging from

• Smoking cessation counseling
• Support groups
• Medications and nicotine replacement therapies, such as nicotine patch or lozenge

With determination and support, anyone can start the journey to better health by quitting smoking for good.