My Red Flag Is Up

[MayLovesMetal]

This comes from the study. (Spontaneous Smoking Cessation Before Lung Cancer Diagnosis : Journal of Thoracic Oncology)

We suggest that there may also be a causal relationship between the presence of lung cancer and smoking cessation and that smoking cessation may itself be a symptom in some lung cancer cases. Two groups have argued that lung cancers may be triggered by smoking cessation.15,16 However, initiation and promotion of lung cancer is a process that develops over many years. With a median interval from cessation to diagnosis of 2.7 years, the majority of former smokers with lung cancer in this study likely harbored their cancer at the time of cessation. Furthermore, the uncharacteristic ease of quitting in some of the lung cancer cases suggests that another process is involved. Thus, the notion that ongoing smoking protects from lung cancer is untenable.
A more plausible explanation is that some lung cancers may somehow lead to smoking cessation.

It's an interesting study but reading it in it's entirety the last thing I get from it is any suggestion that continuing to smoke or withdrawing slowly from smoking offers any protection against lung cancer.

 

[twisted1]

EDIT: I see your point now. Hopefully so does the OP.

A focal point of the study is that there are those that were able to quit, whether intentional or not, due to a biological factor- rather than a cognitive decision.

...observed that many patients with lung cancer stop smoking spontaneously before diagnosis, sometimes without making a conscious decision to do so, and usually before the onset of symptoms...

...Conclusions: These results challenge the notion that patients with lung cancer usually quit smoking because of disease symptoms. The hypothesis that spontaneous smoking cessation may be a presenting symptom of lung cancer warrants further investigation.

 

[Rachy_B]

If you choose to go back to smoking, part-time or full-time or however your boat floats, that's cool... but I wouldn't recommend doing so because of information you found on a blog.

This blog post shows no real research and is more anecdote than statistical proof. Before you make any sort of decision, please speak to a medical professional or at the very least, do more research online before basing your decision on one page you read.

If you do a google scholar search for similar articles and see if there are any you think you might benefit from reading (don't take the mick!) then I'll try and source them for you- better a reputable journal than a blog!

 

[Rachy_B]

As per my previous post:

In support of your argument from a more reputable source: The risk of lung cancer with increasing time since ceasing exposure to asbestos and quitting smoking Occup Environ Med 2006;63:509-512 doi:10.1136/oem.2005.025379 - yeah, there is a slightly higher risk of lung cancer after quitting, particularly if you work with asbestos

Against your argument: Patterns of Absolute Risk of Lung Cancer Mortality in Former Smokers Oxford Journals
Medicine
JNCI J Natl Cancer Inst
Volume 85, Issue 6
Pp. 457-464

and

The problem of tobacco smoking BMJ >
v.328(7433); Jan 24, 2004 >
PMC318495

I would also like to add that a close family friend died of lung cancer about 5 years ago- perhaps 30 years after she quit. My grandfather and great uncle (related by marriage) died of cancer of the everything- my grandfather died about 15 years after he quit and my great uncle smoked pipes up until the end.

We talk a lot about harm reduction and the reduction of harm is not just limited to cancer. As you have rightly pointed out, none of us here are doctors and a five minute skim of google scholar does not qualify me to medically advise you. However, as a fellow human being and someone who cares about your well-being because we share the same planet and an interest in nicotine cessation and our respective healths, PLEASE speak to a medical professional before making any radical decision.

 

[GrannyGrump]

I have COPD and was diagnosed AFTER I quit smoking. Feel bad all the time. Cant walk up or down stairs without feeling like I'm gonna faint. Told the Dr. that I thought I would quit smoking before I started feeling bad. Worked for about a month. Felt great then got what I thought was a really bad chest cold and finally went to Urgent Care. Urgent Care sent me right to Hosp. ER. Surprise....COPD! Only good thing is that my lung specialist is all for my eciggs. No way will I go back to analogs.

 

[sherid]

Even if such a study proved beyond doubt that quitting smoking directly led to cancer, we would NEVER be able to read such a study because the zealots from anti-smoking are so hysterically focused on their cause that they would immediately attack not just the study but the scientists that conducted it. One only has to look at the largest and longest study ever conducted on shs to see what they did to James Enstrom when he found that shs was not nearly as harmful as others said. Read his blog sometime to see how rabid and horrific they are. SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY INSTITUTE - Basic Description
Here is one study that examines the question, Lung cancer after quitting smoking: Is there ... [Med Hypotheses. 2007] - PubMed - NCBI