Cigarette smoking can increase the risk of developing bladder cancer in both men and women, says a study conducted by researchers at the National Cancer Institute. The findings of this study published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) are based on the medical data of 281,394 men and 186,134 women comparing smoking habit with the relative risk of having bladder cancer. The authors concluded that current and former smokers were more prone to have bladder cancer than never smokers.
Smoking is the single biggest risk factor for bladder cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, smoking is responsible for about half of all bladder cancer cases in the United State. In fact, people who smoked are 4 to 7 times more likely to get bladder cancer compared to individuals who never smoked.
Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 toxic chemicals, including cancer-causing agents. Smokers inhale these toxic chemicals, which pass directly from the lungs into their bloodstream. The kidneys filter most of these carcinogens from the blood into the urine, which is stored in the bladder momentarily before it is excreted from the body. Repeated exposure of the healthy cells lining to the body to these cancer-causing chemicals present in tobacco smoke can facilitate their transformation to cancerous cells and tumors, resulting in the development of bladder cancer.
There is no sure way to prevent bladder cancer, but adopting a healthy lifestyle and diet can help an individual beat this cancer. The American Cancer Society estimated that around 81,990 individuals would be diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2018 and more than 17,000 people will die from the disease in the same year. That's a frightening statistics up there, but the good news is many cases and deaths from bladder cancer can be prevented by giving up smoking. so, if you are a smoker, kick this harmful habit to reduce your bladder cancer risk.
Additional Information: