Meet Aunt Edna, Cornell’s Newest Fount of Knowledge
Aunt Edna, back in 1865.
Dear Aunt Edna,
I am a 21 year old male who has been smoking nearly 2 packs a day for four years. I read somewhere that smoking takes an average of 20 years off a person’s life, and I was wondering if that means it takes off more than that from other smokers’ lives, depending on how much they smoke. In a nutshell, if I quit smoking now, should I worry that I could get cancer at, say, age 25? Can people that young get cancer from smoking? I’m currently in the process of quitting. Can you tell me whether or not it’s too late?
Quitter
Dear Quitter,
I can’t say whether or not it’s too late and whether or not you’re doomed for cancer at the age of, say, 25 for a variety of reasons (all more or less related). On the one hand, smoking two packs a day is clearly bad for your health. On the other hand, if you’ve used these smoke breaks to reach a peace of mind, then you most likely have impeccable blood pressure.
If you’re worrying about this, then I bet you’re the type of person who worries about a lot of things and those with type-A personalities tend to outlive their type-B or type-C peers because of a resilient determination to avoid death by any means necessary. It’s more or less rare for people that young to get cancer from smoking, but that entirely depends upon your family medical history, how naturally healthy you were prior to (and during) your nicotine addiction, if you live (and have lived) in a place that is or is not polluted, how often you have been exposed to second-hand smoke (which is arguably more dangerous than actually smoking [and with that, if your second-hand smoke exposure tended to be while you were smoking or while you were not]), your frame of mind, and a plenitude of other factors. All in all, whether or not you’re going to die, it’s hard to call. Thanks for contacting me!
Aunt Edna
