When cancer is detected in a person who smokes, the first thing they are told is to give up their habit for a number of obvious reasons. And now there is one more reason to give up smoking when cancer is diagnosed – smoking can worsen cancer pain, according to a new study.
Different kinds of cancer diagnoses were examined in the survey conducted and participants were required to answer questions about their pain – the severity, how it affected their daily life, and how much distress they suffered.
It was found that those who smoked, experienced more severe pain that those who did not smoke or had given up smoking.
Smokers diagnosed with cancer also reported that the pain interfered in their daily life more than what was reported by non smokers.
The study, which was published in the journal Pain also noted that there is an inverse relationship between the pain suffered by cancer patients and the number of years since they had quit smoking – it was found that longer the duration since they had quit smoking, lesser the pain and interference in life they experienced.
