Smokers know cigarettes cause cancer – but many miss these deadly risks

Comparison of aged skin: Smoker vs Non Smoker

New research reveals a striking gap in what smokers understand about the dangers of cigarettes

Most smokers know that cigarettes can cause lung cancer.

But a surprisingly large number do not appear to realise that smoking is also a major cause of heart attacks and strokes – and that the danger extends to people breathing their secondhand smoke.

A major international study published in BMJ Open examined smoking-risk awareness across 46 countries and found a consistent pattern: knowledge of the link between cigarettes and lung cancer was far higher than awareness of their cardiovascular effects.

Around 92 per cent of smokers knew that smoking can cause lung cancer.

But depending on the survey, only around 80–85 per cent knew about the connection with heart disease or heart attacks, while awareness of the link with stroke fell to between 66 and 75 per cent.

The figures were even lower when researchers asked about secondhand smoke.

The heart attack risk

According to the research, cigarette smoke contains thousands of chemicals capable of damaging the cardiovascular system.

They can injure the lining of blood vessels, promote inflammation and contribute to the buildup of fatty plaque inside arteries.

Smoking also makes the blood more prone to clotting – a critical factor because a clot blocking an artery can trigger a heart attack or an ischemic stroke.

Nicotine raises heart rate and blood pressure, while carbon monoxide from burning tobacco reduces the amount of oxygen the blood can carry.

Over time, these effects can narrow and stiffen blood vessels and accelerate cardiovascular disease.

And the risk is not confined to people who have smoked heavily for decades.

Secondhand smoke is dangerous too

People who do not smoke can still be exposed to many of the same toxic chemicals simply by breathing someone else's cigarette smoke.

The study cites estimates that secondhand smoke caused around 1.3 million deaths worldwide in 2021 among non-smokers.

Yet in several wealthy countries, including the United States, Canada, England, Australia and Germany, fewer than half of people surveyed understood the cardiovascular danger posed by secondhand smoke.

That means smokers who are unaware of the risk may also underestimate the potential harm to partners, children, friends and colleagues around them.

Cutting down is not the same as quitting

One of the more important findings is that smoking fewer cigarettes does not necessarily mean cardiovascular risk falls proportionately.

There is a common assumption that someone smoking a few cigarettes a day carries only a small fraction of the risk faced by a heavy smoker.

Research suggests that is not the case.

The safest option is to stop completely – and the benefits begin surprisingly quickly.

After quitting, heart rate and blood pressure improve, carbon monoxide levels fall and, over time, the risks of heart attack, stroke and other smoking-related diseases decline substantially.

The bigger picture

The researchers also found surprisingly little improvement in public understanding over time.

Across the five health effects examined, average awareness increased by only around 0.14 percentage points per year.

And the numbers underline why the cardiovascular message matters.

The study cites estimates that heart disease and stroke together accounted for around 2.6 million deaths attributable to smoking worldwide in 2019 – roughly twice the 1.3 million smoking-attributable deaths from cancers of the lung, trachea and bronchus.

So while lung cancer remains one of the best-known consequences of smoking, the cigarettes in someone's hand may be putting their heart and brain at enormous risk as well.

The message from the research is straightforward: knowing that cigarettes cause cancer is important – but it is only part of the danger.

SOURCE

5 minutes ago, Social Media said:

Smokers know cigarettes cause cancer

My mate, in his 60s, smoke 3 packets a day, eats jam donuts etc most days, no fruit or vegetables, drinks cans of Coke daily. I have no idea how this guy is still alive.

Mostly, it's the genes you've inherited, a quality DNA goes a long way.

It is amazing the success of taxes, banning indoor smoking and education has had (in the UK).

As a kid growing up in the 60s, it seemed that everyone chained smoked....cars, bars, restaurants, trains.

I remember flying with my father* and he was asked to put out his cigar as only cigarettes were allowed.

Can you imagine sitting on a flight with people smoking???

*Died of lung cancer......smoked a 100 a day (he claimed) during the war..... spent five years in ships engine rooms in the North Atlantic. They all expected to die, so smoked liked there was no tomorrow

I remember my mum collecting the coupons enclosed with Embassy cigarettes packets. Got a food mixer after a while of puffing away.

It's such a con, smoking.

I was a chain smoker and always felt if I had only ten pence left in the world, I'd buy some fags rather than a cup of tea or a sandwich. I needed that cigarette in my hand, how could I talk to people without it? Impossible!

Eventually I quit over a year, chewing gum and peanuts, after being left breathless over a short cycle ride. The doc warned me I was heading for permanent lung damage if I didn't quit.

One day to suddenly realise you haven't thought about a cigarette all day, what a liberation! You realise you're free of your own mind! The monkey is off your back. All those lies your own mind had been whispering to you about how everything was alright so long as you had a cigarette in your pocket. You need me, the cigarette whispered in my ear.

Nobody ever says, 'Last night I went out for a few cigarettes with some old friends, had a real laugh.'

It can be a pleasure, especially after a meal, relaxing, but once you've really quit it just seems like a revolting habit that leaves stale tobacco smells clinging to your clothes and hair.

'

3 minutes ago, bannork said:

I remember my mum collecting the coupons enclosed with Embassy cigarettes packets. Got a food mixer after a while of puffing away.

It's such a con, smoking.

I was a chain smoker and always felt if I had only ten pence left in the world, I'd buy some fags rather than a cup of tea or a sandwich. I needed that cigarette in my hand, how could I talk to people without it? Impossible!

Eventually I quit over a year, chewing gum and peanuts, after being left breathless over a short cycle ride. The doc warned me I was heading for permanent lung damage if I didn't quit.

One day to suddenly realise you haven't thought about a cigarette all day, what a liberation! You realise you're free of your own mind! The monkey is off your back. All those lies your own mind had been whispering to you about how everything was alright so long as you had a cigarette in your pocket. You need me, the cigarette whispered in my ear.

Nobody ever says, 'Last night I went out for a few cigarettes with some old friends, had a real laugh.'

It can be a pleasure, especially after a meal, relaxing, but once you've really quit it just seems like a revolting habit that leaves stale tobacco smells clinging to your clothes and hair.

'

I've smoked cigarettes occasionally......but weirdly never got hooked at all......I might buy a packet, smoke them, then forget all about smoking, literally for years........I agree the smell on clothes, hair, skin is horrible......but I still enjoy the odd whiff of secondhand smoke in an open air bar....555

3 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

My mate, in his 60s, smoke 3 packets a day, eats jam donuts etc most days, no fruit or vegetables, drinks cans of Coke daily. I have no idea how this guy is still alive.

Kind of like my father, 50 a day for 50 years, then he quit because the price went up too much.

He's 82 now. No lung issues at all, no cough, nothing. Weird huh and he started smoking in about 1959 - likely before filters were added.