Contents:
- Medical Video: How Does Smoking Cause Cancer?
- The vocal cords are damaged because cigarettes can cause laryngitis
- The vocal cords damaged by smoking can cause cancer of the larynx
Medical Video: How Does Smoking Cause Cancer?
The vocal cords are mucosal folds in the larynx (ballot box). It is located above the throat (trachea). Like other tissues in the body, vocal cords can also be damaged. Broken vocal cords can be caused by several things, one of which is smoking. Anyone seems to have known that cigarettes have a bad effect on health. Cigarettes can trigger various malignancies to cause death. However, how can smoking cause damage to the vocal cords and how long does smoking last until the damage occurs? Check out the answer below.
The vocal cords are damaged because cigarettes can cause laryngitis
Laryngitis is a condition in which the vocal cords swell so that the voice becomes hoarse. When inflamed, the sound formed from air passing through the vocal cords causes a hoarse voice. Laryngitis usually disappears within 2-3 weeks.
However, this disease can last longer, so it is called chronic laryngitis. Chronic laryngitis requires a longer time to heal, depending on the cause.
One of the causes of chronic laryngitis is smoking. The larynx in people who smoke will dry up and recite. Not only for active smokers, passive smokers can experience this. Cigarette smoke can also irritate the larynx, cause swelling and make inflammation of the vocal cords. This swelling can reduce the tone of voice or make it sound hoarse and rough. Symptoms that commonly occur when chronic laryngitis include.
- Hoarseness
- Lost sound
- Dry cough
- Fever
- Swollen glands in your neck, or lymph nodes
- Difficulty swallowing
The vocal cords damaged by smoking can cause cancer of the larynx
Laryngeal cancer is a tumor that grows on the larynx. One of the causes of laryngeal cancer is the habit of smoking cigarette smoke. Not only for active smokers, but also for passive smokers. Cigarette smoke that is hot, when entering the mouth and about the vocal cords will be buried and cause plaque. The longer, this plaque will widen, then injure the vocal cords. The wound is of various kinds, the most dangerous when this wound becomes a malignant lump.
The more often and more you smoke, the higher your risk of developing laryngeal cancer. People who smoke more than 25 cigarettes a day, or people who smoke more than 40 years, are more likely to develop laryngeal cancer than non-smokers.
Poisons in cigarette smoke can weaken the immune system, making it difficult to kill cancer cells. When this happens, cancer cells continue to grow without stopping. Poisons in tobacco smoke can damage or alter cell DNA. DNA is a cell that controls cell growth and normal function. When DNA is damaged, cell growth can grow uncontrollably and create cancer.
The general symptoms are hoarseness or changes in sound. Other symptoms are prolonged coughing, difficulty swallowing, pain when swallowing, loss of appetite and weight, there are lymph nodes in the neck, and shortness of breath.
Laryngitis and laryngeal cancer are only the effects of smoking, both active and passive smokers. Just losing your voice has prevented you from communicating and doing activities. Imagine if you have to experience prolonged shortness of breath just for a moment of pleasure, or worse, due to the actions of other people who are not responsible, it will certainly reduce your quality of life significantly, right?
