Heavy smokers are more likely to develop an aggressive and deadly form of bladder cancer than those who smoke less or do not smoke at all, showed the results of a new study by scientists from the University of Miami and the University of Southern California.
In this study, scientists analyzed data on 212 patients with bladder cancer between 1987 and 1996. Patients with heavy smokers were 50% more likely to get a deadly form of bladder cancer than those who smoked less or never smoked.
A person is classified as a smoker if he smoked at least one cigarette per day for six months or longer. The second group of smokers is patients who have smoked for 31–40 years or smoked more than 20 cigarettes a day for less than 30 years. The third group consisted of patients who smoked for more than 40 years. Scientists have discovered that after five years, the probability of dying from bladder cancer is 5% for those who have never smoked or smoked a little, 15% for moderately smoking patients and 50% for the most intense smokers.
The study confirms the fact that smoking, especially intensive smoking, is harmful to health. In addition to bladder cancer, it is a risk factor for other types of diseases. In women affected by the human papillomavirus, smoking can triple the chance of getting cervical cancer, according to another study.
If you are a smoker and decided to quit, there is good news: experts believe that your health will begin to improve in the very first minutes after the last puff, and the improvement will continue throughout the following years.
