Experts Lung cancer risk in ex-smokers long time high

The fear of cancer helps some smokers to get rid of his vice. Although giving up smoking is always welcome, the increased lung cancer risk does not disappear automatically. Even after years, the provision for ex-smokers remains important.
Lung cancer as a long-term consequence
One of the common long-term effects of smoking is lung cancer. So who lets the fingers of cigarettes, contributes to the reduction of personal cancer risk. But even many years after quitting, former smokers still have an increased risk of developing lung cancer. Dr. Warner is warning against these consequences of tobacco use. med. Thomas Voshaar, Chairman of the Association of Pneumology Clinics (VPK) in a message from the news agency dpa.

Picture: eyetronic - fotolia

Cancer risk does not decrease immediately with the smoke stop
"The widespread assumption that the lung cancer risk sinks to the level of a never-smoker after so many years and is therefore insignificant, is not true," Dr. Voshaar, who is also chief physician at the Bethanien Hospital in Moers. Ex-smokers should therefore be examined after 15 years of smoking cessation for lung cancer, the association recommends. The risk begins to decline after ten years. But even those who have smoked for a long time - for about 30 years a box a day - according to Voshaar, even after 15 years smoking cessation still a high risk of lung cancer.

Smoking favors many diseases
However, health experts know: smokers fall ill and die not only of lung cancer, but also of other cancers such as pancreatic cancer and colon cancer, cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack, stroke, diabetes, arterial diseases such as atherosclerosis (arteriosclerosis) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD (smoker's lung) , So quitting smoking is always a good idea. (Ad)