If cigarette smoking is injurious and can lead to cancer, then how come so many still survive despite smoking for 45-65 years?

Contributor | The answer to this was explained to me many years ago by a very good doctor. He explained that the problem with smoking isn’t that it causes many of the problems most often associated with it (most notably cancer), but that it exacerbates them in likely sufferers.

It’s likely that people’s predisposition to those conditions is genetic, in their DNA. Some people have no genetic predisposition to getting cancer for example. Any of those people might smoke and smoke for many years with few ill effects at all.

Having a predisposition doesn’t mean anyone will definitely contract cancer. However…

If a person with a genetic predisposition to contracting cancer is a smoker, the likelihood of them contracting it is much higher.

Now, smoking is associated with many more health problems than just cancer – think emphysema, heart disease and many others. If a person has a genetic predisposition toward contracting any of these conditions, as a smoker their likelihood of contracting them is much higher.

The only certainties in life are death and taxes, But to postpone death for as long as possible, stay away from cigarettes.