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Both. I had a friend who was a chain smoker, several packs a day, for decades. She always used herself as an example of no link to cancer. I used to patiently explain, over and over, that smoking is not a guarantee of cancer. Even if, hypothetically, there might be a 99% chance of a lethal outcome of something, you could always be in that freakishly lucky 1%. But do you want to bank on that?
...some individuals are genetically predisposed to certain cancers and some arent. That regardless of whether you smoke or not, if you are unlucky in the genetics department you are going to develop cancer at some point in your life no matter what you do or dont do. I cant think of any other explanation.
Yes, some cancer is preventable through lifestyle optimization but some is not. There's no real controversy about this. If you exercise, eat healthy, aren't overweight, sleep well, don't drink too much, don't smoke, don't live in a polluted environment, don't have too much stress, etc., etc. you can reduce your overall risk of developing cancer by maybe half, but you can't cut it to anywhere near zero. And conversely, living a very unhealthy lifestyle is no guarantee of developing cancer.
Does smoking cigarettes really cause cancer? Or are individuals genetically perdisposed to it already?
This is not an "or" question. Yes, smoking does cause some people to get cancer. About 15% of long time smokers will get lung cancer and smoking raises the risk of developing other cancers as well. And yes, some individuals are genetically predisposed to develop cancer.
The fact is that smoking causes a multitude of diseases with heart disease and lung cancer being the top two.
My mother was the oldest of four sisters. Three of these sisters were smokers. Two died in their fifties from heart related issues. My mother survived a heart attack and stroke and lived until age seventy two. She continued to smoke menthol cigarettes and died from lung cancer. The youngest of the four sisters never smoked. She is now in her nineties, very healthy and active.
There is no question that smoking is deadly. The single most important thing a person can do to improve their health and longevity is to never smoke or quit smoking ASAP.
My old man smoked from the time he was 15 years old until he quit cold turkey at 78. 2 years later he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. My personal theory is people who are so addicted to nicotine and quit cold turkey have no idea of the effect on their brain.
Tobacco denial, climate change denial. Two peas in a pod. The tobacco industry created an astroturf movement to doubt the medical science. Now we have the fossil fuel industry doing the exact same thing with climate change, they have sponsored and encouraged an astroturf movement to deny atmospheric and earth science.
The tobacco industry was found guilty of almost 150 counts of RICO (racketeering and fraud). Now we need to do the same to big oil.
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Does smoking cigarettes really cause cancer? Or are individuals genetically perdisposed to it already?
