Smoking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Smoking - Essay Example This paper describes three major facts associated with smoking in order to persuade smokers to get rid of their smoking habit. Amina Khan in her article, â€Å"Joe Paterno has lung cancer: What are the risks?†, published in Los Angeles Times on November 18, 2011, says the reasons for the lung cvancer caused to former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. Joe Paterno has been diagnosed with a treatable form of lung cancer recently. She has pointed out that Paterno has never been known as a smoker. In her opinion, â€Å"The most common risk factor for lung cancer is a history of smoking -- even if a patient quit decades earlier. Its not uncommon for patients to quit and think theyre no longer at risk† (Khan). Brizer (2003) has also mentioned the association of cancer with smoking. â€Å"German researchers proved the association of cancer with smoking† (Brizer, p.21). Even though smoking can cause different types of physical diseases such as heart attacks, cancers, cough etc, Lung cancer seems to be the most dangerous disease associated with smoking. It is estimated that tobacco contains more than 4,000 chemicals which may cause different types of diseases to the smoker and the secondary smoke breathers. Ammonia, arsenic, carbon monoxide, and benzene are some of the toxic ingredients in cigarette smoke. Out of these 4000 chemicals, 43 can cause cancer disease. In fact 86% of all deaths caused by smoking is due to lung cancer (Smoking Cessation). Seventy-seven percent (482) had a smoking history while 11.3% (71) were current smokers. The length of smoking cessation to cancer diagnosis was