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Monday, February 20, 2006

Good News for Future Oncologists

Posted by on February 20 at 10:59 AM

From a recent article by Abid Aslam:

Deaths from lung cancer and other health problems tied to tobacco use are expected to double to 10 million per year by 2020 but the real figure likely will be much higher, researchers warned Friday.

A global survey of young people uncovered a surprising rise in tobacco consumption among girls and widespread exposure to secondhand smoke, according to an article published online Friday by leading medical journal The Lancet.

As a result, ”current dire warnings that the annual death toll will double to 10 million by 2020 may be a conservative estimate,” said Charles Warren, the article’s author.

”The true toll from tobacco use could be even greater with high rates of non-cigarette tobacco use and high rates of smoking among young girls,” said Warren, a doctor in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health.

He urged ”a redoubling of efforts to prevent initiation and promote cessation among the large proportion of young people who currently use tobacco,” and added that ”high exposure to secondhand smoke suggests a need for countries to pass strong and effective smoke-free policies.”


CommentsRSS icon

I wouldn't call commondreams.org an objective, unbiased news source.

And once again, no evidence beyond broad, unsubstantiated claims from the usual suspects. Not surprised.

I agree! You know what else kills people every day? Drunk Driving. So what we need to do is ban cars as well alcohol, because some people are getting hurt in their weedle cars.

Ass.

-SH

Horrible analogy, Hansen.

Cars, for all their faults, do useful things like transport people and goods to places; important in the grand scheme of what we charitably call civilization.
Cigarettes? Uh, they add to the world's misery index and make certain fools think they look cool.

Oh, like alcohol?

HB, there are good arguments against cigarettes, but that wasn't close.

Also, secondhand smoke is the bone of contention. Smokign 20 cigarettes a day directly can kill you in time. However, studies that say that breathing in secondhand smoke can do the same are faulty, lack full scientific controls and thus, credibility. They discount the effect of common air pollutants, which are everywhere and are ingested by many everyday. These studies assume that air outside of cigarette smoke is completely clean and healthy.

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