Q&A: How long does it take to get lung cancer?

Question by brett t: How long does it take to get lung cancer?
K so before I was born my mom smoked for about 40 years. Would that make my lungs weaker and make me more of a risk to get lung cancer?

Best answer:

Answer by S A R A
The smoke that went into her lungs would not affect your lungs while you were still developing within her. Cigarettes do deprive the blood of oxygen and there are innumerable things that can result of that in a growing fetus.

Second-hand smoke, though, (after you were born) can contribute to an increase of a chance in lung cancer, asthma, allergic reaction, etc. Also, secondhand smoke has been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a known cause of cancer in humans (Group A carcinogen). And you may not believe it, but secondhand smoke causes almost 50,000 deaths in adult nonsmokers in the United States each year.

I doubt that would make your lungs weaker, but as for being at an increased risk for cancer I would say definitely more than a child who was never around those who smoked.

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