Tobacco use has been strongly linked to many diseases, including heart disease, bronchitis, emphysema, and roughly one-third of all human cancers. It has been estimated that smoking is responsible for : 90% of all deaths from lung cancer ; 80% of all deaths from cancer of the larynx ; 78% of all deaths from esophageal cancer ; 48% of all deaths from kidney cancer ; and 17% of all deaths from stomach cancer ( H.B Simon : Staying well : your complete guide to disease prevention). Here’s one study that linked smoking to an increased incidence of leukemia.
A group of 610 patients, all newly diagnosed with acute leukemia, were compared with 618 healthy matched controls to detect the influence of cigarette smoking on leukemia risk. It was found that, for persons over 60, those who had ever smoked were at a two-fold higher risk of developing acute leukemia. For the particular sub-type of leukemia known as acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), smoking cigarettes increased the relative risk 3.4-fold among those over 60. However, the trends were not true for persons under 60 years of age. The discrepancy between older and younger person is unknown. It may be because there are simply too few cases of acute leukemia in younger person to detect the risk, researchers said. Nevertheless, the conclusion says that smoking can increase the risk of developing acute leukemia.
