Women die earlier and more frequently from cancer

Smoking harms women more than men: The cancer death comes earlier and more often

03/06/2012

Women show a particularly high risk of cancer through the consumption of cigarettes. Although smoking is equally detrimental to health and death to both men and women, an evaluation by the Federal Statistical Office shows that women suffer from typical smoker cancers much earlier than men and moreover die more frequently from cancer.

Smoking harms women to a greater extent
An evaluation by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) in Wiesbaden on World No Tobacco Day showed that smoking statistically causes more harm to women than men. Female smokers with lung cancer or other bronchial cancers lose significantly more of their lives than men. On average, when men die 2.9 years earlier, women's life expectancy has fallen by an average of 10.5 years.

According to statisticians, in 2010, a total of 13,815 women died from cancers, "which can be placed in a close context with the consumption of tobacco products.“ Compared to the year 2000, this is an increase of 36 percent in Germany. Still, more men are dying of cancer nonetheless. In 2010, the Federal Agency registered 29,357 men who died as a result of lung and bronchial cancer. According to doctors of the German Cancer Research Center, almost 90 percent of patients who died of lung cancer were previously long-term smokers. However, men smoke more often than women.

„The proportion of women in the total deaths caused by diseases such as lung, bronchial, laryngeal and tracheal cancer (44,457) in 2010 was around 31 percent“, so Destatis. Thus, not only do women die earlier from typical smoker cancers, but they also die more frequently. According to the experts, in 2001 the proportion of deceased women was still 25 percent.

More and more men give up smoking
As a reason for the static shifts, the Federal Statistical Office sees the following connection. Men have given up smoking more often than women because of various health campaigns in recent years. In addition, at the same time disproportionately more women have started or restarted cigarette smoking. The Head of the Department of Cancer Prevention at the German Cancer Research Center, Dr. med. Marina Pötschke-Langer, commented on the statistics: "The receipt we get now.“ Although it is gratifying that one „Decrease in bronchial carcinoma in men“, but that's one „dramatic increase in deaths among women“ recognizable. If the negative trend continues, "then lung cancer in women will soon overtake breast cancer as the number one killer of malignant tumors." By comparison, in 2010, 17,573 women died as a result of breast cancer.

Men more resistant to cancerous substances
It remains unknown why smoking harms women significantly more than men. Opposite the news agency „dpa“ said Dr. Johannes Bruns, secretary general of the German Cancer Society, there are so far „no scientific studies“. However, scientists suspect that hormonal fluctuations and the female cycle could be a cause. Epidemiologically, however, can „be crystal clear“, that women are less resistant to cancer risk agents than men. Bruns called on all women in view of these numbers, „to draw their conclusions from it“. According to Professor Adrian Gillesen, director of the Clinic for Lung and Bronchial Medicine in Kassel, women suffer more quickly from a typical "smoker's lung" than men and suffer from the typical symptoms such as increasing smoker's cough and shortness of breath.

As cigarettes become more and more expensive, more and more consumers of smokers are switching to tobacco products, where cigarettes are turned on their own. In 2011, smoked an average of 74 tons of fine cuts every day throughout Germany. In 2002 it was only 42 tons. In contrast, sales of cigarette packs declined. Were inhaled in 2002 every day 398 pieces, there were in 2011 240 million cigarettes per day. Even the consumption of expensive cigars or cigarillos has increased. Were smoked in 2002, eight million a day, 2011 were already 12 million daily. „For cigars, fine cuts and pipe tobacco, the quantity produced in 2011 meant a new high since 1991, when results for the reunified Germany were reported for the first time.“ In 2011, a total of 220 billion cigarettes, 2.4 billion blunt and cigarillos, 532 million cigars and 42,800 tonnes of fine-cut tobacco and 110 pipe tobacco were produced. The increase in the price of glow sticks has thus only led to a shift in consumer and consumer behavior. It is pleasing that fewer and fewer children and adolescents are starting to smoke. (Sb)

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Picture: Gabriele Schoenemann