Special Supplement to The West Valley View
HEALTH Winter 2021
INSIDE This Issue
WELLNESS Your Local Guide to Better Living
Smoking can cause 12 different cancers BY DR. RAMMOHAN MARLA
WARREN & HAGERMAN .......... 2 Dental practice is a real hidden gem
ASSOCIATED RETINA CONSULTANTS ...... 3 Putting each one of their patients first
AREA AGENCY ON AGING .................. 4 Taking small steps for lifelong rewards
New year’s resolutions may literally save your life. I’m a thoracic surgeon at Cancer Treatment Centers of America Phoenix, treating patients with the deadliest cancer in the United States, lung cancer. Not even half of those diagnosed early — when the cancer is localized to the lungs — live for five more years. But very few lung cancers are caught early. Once it spreads, the five-year survival rate is only 5%. You can improve your odds right now by quitting smoking, which is linked to 90% of all lung cancers. This is why I encourage all smokers to make — and keep — a resolution to quit today. Even if you’ve been smoking for years, quitting will improve your health. Quitting immediately reduces your risk for 12 cancers, including mouth and throat, larynx, esophagus, stomach, bladder and leukemia. Quitting can increase your life expectancy by as much as a decade. It reduces your risk for cardiovascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and stroke. The health benefits of quitting begin immediately. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, your heart rate drops minutes after you quit. The nicotine level in your blood falls to zero after 24 hours. Within a few days, carbon monoxide levels in the blood are the same as those who do not smoke. Your risk of heart attack drops sharply within two years, and
your added risk of heart disease is cut in half after three to six years. Plus, quitting saves you money, because you’re no longer buying cigarettes and you qualify for lower health insurance costs. Quitting is hard. Nicotine is addictive. But we can do anything if we put our minds to it. Remember to keep in mind why we’re quitting. The healthier you are, the more time you’ll have to spend with your loved ones. If you have kids, they’re less likely to develop asthma when they’re not exposed to second-hand smoke. You don’t have to quit cold turkey. We have many ways to help you, including patches, gum and support programs. Your doctor can help provide guidance as well. If you have been smoking for many years, I urge you to schedule a cancer screening. It’s a quick procedure that involves a very low dose of radiation that will find any sus-
picious nodules in the lungs. The earlier treatment begins, the better your odds. If the screening finds nothing, you can wait a year for another one. One final request: Don’t turn to e-cigarettes. The Food and Drug Administration has found no e-cigarette to be safe and effective in helping smokers quit. Whether vaping is as dangerous as smoking is unsettled science. Vaping, however, coats the lungs with a mist of harmful chemicals, including formaldehyde, the weed-killer arolein, lung-damaging diacetyl and vitamin E, which has been linked to severe lung damage. A new year has begun, and it’s full of potential and possibilities. Make a resolution to kick the habit — and potentially add years to your life. Dr. Rammohan Marla, FACS, FACC, is a board-certified thoracic surgeon at Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phoenix.
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