Avoid Smoke and Smoking
Tobacco is the highest cancer risk factor. According to the American Cancer Society, smoking damages nearly every organ in the human body, is linked to many cancers, and accounts for at least 30 percent of all cancer deaths. Tobacco costs billions of dollars each year. Estimates indicate one in five Americans still smokes. Quit the habit and reduce your cancer risk.
Second and third hand smoke is also harmful. Non-smokers are exposed to second hand smoke from a smoker's exhale or a smoldering cigarette. After second hand smoke has cleared the room, recent research has identified another level of harm. Third hand smoke is an invisible, toxic combination of gases and particles that clings to a smoker's hair, clothing, furniture, carpeting, and other items. The residue of third hand smoke contains heavy metals, carcinogens, and radioactive materials.
For More Information
- National Cancer Institute (NCI) Smoking
- NCI's Smoking Quitline at 1-877-44U-QUIT and LiveHelp can talk with you about ways to quit smoking and about groups that help smokers who want to quit. Groups may offer counseling in person or by telephone.
- Smoke Free, a federal government resource, has an online guide to quitting smoking and a list of other resources.
- Doctors and dentists can help their patients find local programs or trained professionals who help people stop using tobacco.
- Doctors and dentists can suggest medicine or nicotine replacement therapy, such as a patch, gum, lozenge, nasal spray, or inhaler.
Quit or Reduce Alcohol Consumption
Having more than two drinks each day for many years may increase the chance of developing cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, larynx, liver, and breast.
The cancer risk increases with the amount of alcohol that a person drinks. For most of these cancers, the cancer risk is higher for a drinker who uses tobacco. Doctors advise people who drink to do so in moderation. Drinking in moderation means no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks per day for men.
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