Donna, I appreciate the delicate nature of this topic, but I do need to reply.
Smoking causes cancer. That is the cold hard truth. For me that is not a stigma, it may be for you - especially if you have LC and never smoked - but for me it is a reality. For more than 90% of people, Lung Cancer is a preventable disease. I know patients can't be blamed for getting sick, especially since the perils of smoking were at one time unknown and because addiction is very complex.
I for one, do not understand the science of nicotine addiction, but I do know that if you never pick up a cigarette because you are aware that smoking causes Lung Cancer, then you have a .04% chance of developing LC, as opposed to a smoker at 22%. We cannot deny the correllation. Since 1900, smoking has increased by 400% per capita, AND SO HAS LUNG CANCER. This is not a coincidence, people. Also, there are 3,000 deaths PER YEAR reported of Lung Cancer caused by second hand smoke.
If you think I am perpetuating a stigma, that's fine, call it whatever you want. But I am going to "shout it from the mountaintops" - I want everyone, especially those thinking of smoking, to know that LUNG CANCER IS CAUSED BY CIGARETTE SMOKING. By hiding this truth, many people will blindly begin smoking without knowing the consequences. I encourage everyone that reads this to, once a week, let a young person know about the detrimental effects of smoking- because if you are reading this, you most likely know from first hand experience.
FROM THE CDC WEBSITE:
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Cigarette smoking causes an estimated 440,000 deaths, or about 1 of every 5 deaths, each year. This estimate includes 35,000 deaths from secondhand smoke exposure.
Cigarette smoking kills an estimated 264,000 men and 178,000 women in the United States each year.
More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined.
On average, adults who smoke cigarettes die 13–14 years earlier than nonsmokers.
Based on current cigarette smoking patterns, an estimated 25 million Americans who are alive today will die prematurely from smoking-related illnesses, including 5 million people younger than 18.
Since 1950, lung cancer deaths among women have increased by more than 600%.1 Since 1987, lung cancer has been the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women.1