Lung cancer is one of the most common types of human cancer and smoking is the leading cause of death worldwide. A recent medical study revealed that most people who develop lung cancer could have avoided the malignant disease, if they had given up a dangerous habit, which is smoking, or even reduced it. Experts have called for more restrictions on the consumption of tobacco products.
According to the study published in the scientific journal “Plos One”, 61% of cancer injuries were preventable in Britain, for example, if the patients had quit smoking at some point in their lives. Experts warn that smoking is harmful not only to the lung, but also leads to about 15 types of cancer in organs such as the liver, pancreas, kidneys and stomach.
The study, carried out by researchers from France and Britain, showed that people who suffer from poverty in Britain are more likely to develop cancer by 17%.
The researchers reported that 21% of cancer cases recorded in the poorest fifth of Britons, were caused by smoking.
On the other hand, the figures reveal that only 9.7% of cancer cases recorded among the richest people in Britain were due to smoking.
In view of these figures, experts call for increased awareness of the dangers of smoking, especially in poor areas where tobacco products are frequently consumed.
The study stated that if people had reduced the frequency of smoking, this would have been reflected in a decrease of 5,000 cases of cancer among the poorest population in Britain, according to “Sky News”.
But if the British as a whole, the poor and the rich alike, were keen to reduce smoking, the number of cancer cases registered annually would drop by 16,000.
And health data in Britain indicate that smoking costs the Public Health Service (NHS) about 2.4 billion pounds, in addition to about 1.2 billion pounds to secure social care expenses related to the consequences of smoking.