”Gooooood morning
America. The latest update is that 174.470 Americans were diagnosed with lung
cancer in 2006. That is the highest number ever. Exactly coinciding with the
publication of this information, the US Surgeon General has released its latest
scientific report ”The Filibuster on Third Hand Smoke” proving the hazards of
tobacco smoke. ”The debate is over” cries former US Surgeon General, Vice
Admiral Richard Carmona ”Tobacco kills in all of its forms and non-forms!”. And
now for the weather.”
You read the
number correctly. 174.470 new American lung cancer cases in 2006. That is an all
time high. Never before have so many Americans been diagnosed with lung cancer.
Never before in modern history have Americans smoked so few cigarettes.
As far as lung
cancer is concerned, there is one tiny piece of good news. In 2006 it is
estimated that 'only' 162.460 will die of lung cancer. That is a drop from
163.510 deaths last year. 950 fewer lung cancer deaths is a welcome improvment,
albeit a modest one.
We understand
immediately that this drop must be due to improved treatment.
Lets walk through
55 years of smoking and lung cancer.
The smoke walk.
In 1950, American
consumers smoked about 380 billion cigarettes. That year 20.000 Americans
succumbed to lung cancer.
In 1981, cigarette
sales in America topped, with 636 billion cigarettes, barely doubling the 1950
consumption. In the meantime lung cancer deaths had more than quintupled to
111.000.
In the 1990's, for
a brief period, lung cancer deaths in the US stabilized at around 155.000 each
year.
In 2006, Americans
smoked about 350 billion cigarettes, less than in 1950. Yet 162.460 Americans
died of lung cancer. That is more than 8 times as many as in 1950. The number of
new lung cancer victims is rising at express elevator speed.
The implications.
What is evident
and clear is that smoking tobacco is not a major cause of lung cancer, and it
never was. That is in no way possible.
The myth of
passive smoking is also imploded. We see that due to the decline in smoking,
exposure to environmental tobacco smoke must be declining, because there is less
smoke to go around. In addition, anti smoking zealots have proceeded to 'protect
the public' against exposure to tobacco smoke. So passive smoking has been
declining at an even faster pace than active smoking.
To sum it all up,
lung cancer is on the rise. It has reached an all time high. There is no way
that the sum of active and passive smoking can be a major cause of lung cancer.
Period.
In this respect,
it would be fair to say that former US Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Richard
Carmona is correct, when he states that ”the debate is over”. By simple
inspection, tobacco smoke is not a major cause of lung cancer. It should come as
no surprise why, in more ways than one, the debate is over for Vice Admiral
Richard Carmona.
But for the
thousands that die of lung cancer every year, the debate is not over. Their
lungs are screaming loud and clear that smoking tobacco is not and cannot be a
major cause of lung cancer. Of course it will be over for them too. Smoking did
not cause the vast majority of these cancers. Until we break the gospel that
'smoking causes lung cancer' only improved treatment gives them a chance.
Source:
http://www.lungcanceralliance.org/involved/reportcard.html |
