NOT THE SHARPEST KNIVES IN THE DRAWER: Tell St. Peter That You Hate To Make Him Wait, But You Just Gotta Have Another Cigarette
A study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention finds that one in five recently diagnosed lung cancer patients and their family caregivers continues to smoke cigarettes, reports HealthDay News:
The researchers looked at 742 cancer patients and caregivers at multiple sites and found that 18 percent of smokers with lung cancer failed to quit after their diagnosis. Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer.
Among a subset of smokers with colorectal cancer, which is not strongly associated with tobacco use, 12 percent of the patients continued smoking.
An even higher proportion of the patients' family caregivers also kept on smoking - 25 percent of those caring for lung cancer patients and 20 percent of those caring for colorectal cancer patients, the researchers found.
Most of the caregivers were middle-aged females and were often spouses of the patients. In some cases, both the patient and the caregiver continued smoking.
The researchers noted that many patients feel that the damage is already done, so there’s no benefit to quit smoking, but continuing to smoke can hinder the efficacy of cancer treatment and raises the risk of developing a secondary cancer.
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