If You Are A Smoker, You May Already Have Lung Cancer.
A Quick Science Overview: The primary function of the lungs is to breathe air.
The lung cells take the oxygen out of the air and push it into the blood.
The lungs are made of tiny little lung cells.
Normal lung cells duplicate into more and more healthy lung cells and turn into more and more lung tissue.
This is normal.
However, when the lungs become damaged, the damaged cells begin to duplicate fast, and the healthy lung cells stop developing.
This leads to a lot of "damaged cells" clumping together into a tumor.
Even though it takes years to notice full-blown lung cancer, lung cells exposed to cigarette smoke almost immediately take on "abnormal characteristics" and behave like damaged lung cells.
Why You May Have Cancer Already.
Cancer is the abnormal function of a group of cells rapidly reproducing throughout the body.
In order for doctors to notice lung cancer, it needs to be either so wide spread they can detect it easily, or you need to undergo a advanced lung scan.
But here's the thing.
The lung scan is not part of a regular routine, so the doctors may not catch the cancer until it is too late.
Smoking Leads To Lung Cancer 90% of lung cancer in the United States is caused by cigarettes.
In about 10% of cases, people are diagnosed with lung cancer, and have never touched a cigarette in their life.
However, in the other 90% they were mostly avid smokers.
Not only can smoking cause lung cancer, but it alsogreatlyincreases your risk of: • Emphysema (A lung disease where your lungs will become less and less efficient.
) • Bronchitis (Another lung disease where you're the tubes from your throat to your lungs become inflamed sometimes to the extent similar to an asthma attack) • Heart Disease (And it also raises your blood pressure) Lung Cancer Kills Now there are two different types of lung cancer.
Both of them can be deadly, but one kills quicker than the other.
The first type of lung cancer is Non-Small Cell.
Sounds a bit too medical but bear with me here because this is important.
This one spreads slower than the other, however exact time that it takes to develop is impossible to figure out because every single case is different.
Now there are 4 different stages to this type: 1.
Stage 1 - The cancerous tumor hasn't yet spread to the lymph nodes (an important part of your immune system) 2.
Stage 2 - The cancerous tumor has spread to the lymph nodes and made it to the chest wall 3.
Stage 3 - The tumor has spread, common symptom being fluid in the lungs 4.
Stage 4 - The tumor has spread completely to a different part of the body such as the pelvic area or the liver.
The second type of lung cancer is Small Cell.
This is significantly less common (only about 20% of cases), but spreads a lot quicker.
There are only two types of this particular type of lung cancer and they are: 1.
Stage 1 - The cancerous tumor is limited in size, but keep in mind that small-cell cancer spreads quicker than non-small cell cancer.
2.
Stage 2 - The cancer is almost completely developed.
Treatment options are very limited, the cancer is spreading fast.
5 Steps Towards A Smoke-Free Life.
1.
Remove all tobacco products.
All.
Tobacco.
Products.
Say, "No" to the "emergency cigarette.
" You also shouldn't have a private stash hidden away just in case.
If you are truly serious about quitting smoking, you need to take the addictive chemical (nicotine) as far from your lungs and body as you can.
2.
The most important step of all.
You need motivation, and lots of it.
More specifically you need a reason to quit smoking.
If you cannot think of one, I'm sure that living till next year will be a good enough one for you.
Now here's the homework, take a pen and some post-it notes and write down the reason you are quitting smoking, and how much better your life will be once you are smoke free.
Place a sticky note on your fridge, your bathroom mirror, your bedroom next to your alarm clock, and on your front door on the inside so you can see it everytime you go out.
3.
Pick up a personal organizer from the store.
Your goal is to plan out the next 30 days, and write it down as much as you can.
If you cannot plan out that far ahead; plan out a week, and as you get towards the end of the week, then plan out the next week.
Simple right? 4.
Try not to plan on a diet or any other life-altering changes, you are going to need all the will power that you can during the first 30 days.
After those 30, it will get much easier for you as the cravings slowly begin to fade.
Keep some of your favorite food, whatever that is, and when the cravings get really bad, eat your favorite food; you may find this helps you when the cravings get really strong.
5.
Your support.
If you are married, inform your spouse that you are quitting smoking, and you are going to need all of the help that they can give.
If you are not married but have a significant other, ask them for help.
Always keep in mind the reason you are quitting and how much better your life will be after you quit.
The more people you have help you, the easier it will be for you to quit! Some extra motivation if you need it • Within 20 minutes of quitting, your blood pressure and heart rate will slow back to normal.
• Within 8 hours of quitting, Nicotine levels will have fallen to about 6% of average normal levels, a 90% reduction • Within 12 hours, Carbon Monoxide levels drop to normal.
• Within 2 Days, your sense of smell and taste return to normal.
• Within 5-8 Days, you will have an average of 3 "cravings" a day, but they will not last more than 5 minutes, keep your stopwatch handy! • Within 10 Days, you have an average of only 2 "cravings" a day, and they will last less than 3 minutes each.
• Within 2-4 weeks, the "cravings" are rare if not gone completely.
Good Luck!
A Quick Science Overview: The primary function of the lungs is to breathe air.
The lung cells take the oxygen out of the air and push it into the blood.
The lungs are made of tiny little lung cells.
Normal lung cells duplicate into more and more healthy lung cells and turn into more and more lung tissue.
This is normal.
However, when the lungs become damaged, the damaged cells begin to duplicate fast, and the healthy lung cells stop developing.
This leads to a lot of "damaged cells" clumping together into a tumor.
Even though it takes years to notice full-blown lung cancer, lung cells exposed to cigarette smoke almost immediately take on "abnormal characteristics" and behave like damaged lung cells.
Why You May Have Cancer Already.
Cancer is the abnormal function of a group of cells rapidly reproducing throughout the body.
In order for doctors to notice lung cancer, it needs to be either so wide spread they can detect it easily, or you need to undergo a advanced lung scan.
But here's the thing.
The lung scan is not part of a regular routine, so the doctors may not catch the cancer until it is too late.
Smoking Leads To Lung Cancer 90% of lung cancer in the United States is caused by cigarettes.
In about 10% of cases, people are diagnosed with lung cancer, and have never touched a cigarette in their life.
However, in the other 90% they were mostly avid smokers.
Not only can smoking cause lung cancer, but it alsogreatlyincreases your risk of: • Emphysema (A lung disease where your lungs will become less and less efficient.
) • Bronchitis (Another lung disease where you're the tubes from your throat to your lungs become inflamed sometimes to the extent similar to an asthma attack) • Heart Disease (And it also raises your blood pressure) Lung Cancer Kills Now there are two different types of lung cancer.
Both of them can be deadly, but one kills quicker than the other.
The first type of lung cancer is Non-Small Cell.
Sounds a bit too medical but bear with me here because this is important.
This one spreads slower than the other, however exact time that it takes to develop is impossible to figure out because every single case is different.
Now there are 4 different stages to this type: 1.
Stage 1 - The cancerous tumor hasn't yet spread to the lymph nodes (an important part of your immune system) 2.
Stage 2 - The cancerous tumor has spread to the lymph nodes and made it to the chest wall 3.
Stage 3 - The tumor has spread, common symptom being fluid in the lungs 4.
Stage 4 - The tumor has spread completely to a different part of the body such as the pelvic area or the liver.
The second type of lung cancer is Small Cell.
This is significantly less common (only about 20% of cases), but spreads a lot quicker.
There are only two types of this particular type of lung cancer and they are: 1.
Stage 1 - The cancerous tumor is limited in size, but keep in mind that small-cell cancer spreads quicker than non-small cell cancer.
2.
Stage 2 - The cancer is almost completely developed.
Treatment options are very limited, the cancer is spreading fast.
5 Steps Towards A Smoke-Free Life.
1.
Remove all tobacco products.
All.
Tobacco.
Products.
Say, "No" to the "emergency cigarette.
" You also shouldn't have a private stash hidden away just in case.
If you are truly serious about quitting smoking, you need to take the addictive chemical (nicotine) as far from your lungs and body as you can.
2.
The most important step of all.
You need motivation, and lots of it.
More specifically you need a reason to quit smoking.
If you cannot think of one, I'm sure that living till next year will be a good enough one for you.
Now here's the homework, take a pen and some post-it notes and write down the reason you are quitting smoking, and how much better your life will be once you are smoke free.
Place a sticky note on your fridge, your bathroom mirror, your bedroom next to your alarm clock, and on your front door on the inside so you can see it everytime you go out.
3.
Pick up a personal organizer from the store.
Your goal is to plan out the next 30 days, and write it down as much as you can.
If you cannot plan out that far ahead; plan out a week, and as you get towards the end of the week, then plan out the next week.
Simple right? 4.
Try not to plan on a diet or any other life-altering changes, you are going to need all the will power that you can during the first 30 days.
After those 30, it will get much easier for you as the cravings slowly begin to fade.
Keep some of your favorite food, whatever that is, and when the cravings get really bad, eat your favorite food; you may find this helps you when the cravings get really strong.
5.
Your support.
If you are married, inform your spouse that you are quitting smoking, and you are going to need all of the help that they can give.
If you are not married but have a significant other, ask them for help.
Always keep in mind the reason you are quitting and how much better your life will be after you quit.
The more people you have help you, the easier it will be for you to quit! Some extra motivation if you need it • Within 20 minutes of quitting, your blood pressure and heart rate will slow back to normal.
• Within 8 hours of quitting, Nicotine levels will have fallen to about 6% of average normal levels, a 90% reduction • Within 12 hours, Carbon Monoxide levels drop to normal.
• Within 2 Days, your sense of smell and taste return to normal.
• Within 5-8 Days, you will have an average of 3 "cravings" a day, but they will not last more than 5 minutes, keep your stopwatch handy! • Within 10 Days, you have an average of only 2 "cravings" a day, and they will last less than 3 minutes each.
• Within 2-4 weeks, the "cravings" are rare if not gone completely.
Good Luck!
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