Smoking and Ovarian Cancer

It appears that the risk of ovarian cancer may well be greater for women who smoke or have smoked in the past than for those who have never smoked, according to a study that followed more than 100,000 Scandinavian women over the course of a decade.

The participants were between the ages of 30 and 50 when they enrolled in the cohort study that asked them to fill out a questionnaire. Twenty-eight percent of the women enrolled in the study were smokers at the time and answered questions regarding their smoking habit, such as when they started smoking, along with number of years and amount smoked.

Researchers then followed up over the next 10 years by checking national cancer registries to identify those who had developed ovarian cancer.

The results indicated that by the end of 2003:

• 312 women had either invasive or borderline ovarian cancer
• Current smokers had a 60 percent greater risk of ovarian cancer than those who had never smoked when they enrolled in the study
• Former smokers were at a 50 percent increased risk of ovarian cancer than those who never smoked
• Women who smoked for 25 years or more and were still smoking had twice the risk of developing ovarian cancer as those who never smoked

There are over 4000 chemical compounds present in cigarette smoke, including over 40 that are known to be carcinogenic and 200 that are poisonous. It's not surprising that people face so many health hazards due to smoking cigarettes, with scientists discovering more every day.

If you're still smoking, please stop. Your precious life hangs in the balance. Don't risk your health any longer on an addiction that offers nothing but disease and death.

Quit smoking now!

_{Source: 
The American Association for Cancer Research
http://quitsmoking.about.com/od/cancer/a/ovariancancer.htm}


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