According to the team’s research, the risk of lung cancer dropped by 45 percent for smokers who went from 10 to 19 cigarettes to below 10 per day compared to individuals who consistently smoked at least 20. (Image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, March 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Though quitting remains the most highly recommended course of action for one’s health, smoking less per day has also been found to be an effective method for substantially lowering the risk of cancer.
This conclusion was derived by Dr. Lee Ki-heon’s research team at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital.
According to the team’s research, the risk of lung cancer dropped by 45 percent for smokers who went from 10 to 19 cigarettes to below 10 per day compared to individuals who consistently smoked at least 20 everyday.
In addition, the smokers who scaled back their tobacco use were 26 percent and 18 percent less likely to develop smoking related cancers (nasopharyngeal, stomach, colorectal cancers) and all other types of cancers, respectively.
One of the researchers said that while cutting down on smoking does help to prevent cancer, it was important to remember that the best decision one can make is to quit smoking entirely.
A report of the research findings was listed in the journal Cancer Research and Treatment.
One of the researchers said that while cutting down on smoking does help to prevent cancer, it was important to remember that the best decision one can make is to quit smoking entirely. (Image: Korea Bizwire)
For the study, Dr. Lee’s team used the National Health Insurance Service’s big data to analyze 143,071 40-something men who had received health examinations in both 2002-2003 and 2004-2005.
Smoking among South Korean men is on the decline but still high compared to OECD nations. In 2016, Statistics Korea noted that the smoking rate of men 19 and above was 39.1 percent, a drop of 4.2 percentage points from 2014 (43.3 percent).
According to OECD statistics, the smoking rate for South Korean males 15 and above in 2015 was 31 percent, the highest percentage in this category among 15 nations investigated. Japan ranked second at 30 percent, followed by Italy at 25 percent.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
