Air Pollution Exposure as a Potential Cofounder to Smoking and Lung Cancer
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Air Pollution Exposure as a Potential Cofounder to Smoking and Lung Cancer
The studies analyze the causative agents for lung cancer and the potential methods that one can use to shield themselves from adverse effects and to contract the illness. One of the significant factors that are proven to have direct implications for potential lung cancer victims is smoking exposure. Air pollution exposure is a third variable in the lung cancer containment procedures that are not commonly considered, yet it has direct implications on the smoking exposure and lung cancer regression line.
In consultation with a study that was carried out to find the extent to which the lung cancer diseases affected people given underlying conditions, there is a significant impact of air pollution on lung cancer (Chang, Lau & Moolgavkar, 2020). The primary dependent variable that is under study is smoking exposure. The research shows that there is an evident correlation between cancer patients who have prior exposure to smoking. Also, there were significant results in the smoking exposure study that showed that the level of smoking exposure has a significant impact as there was a direct correlation between the levels of smoking exposure and lung cancer cases and their severity.
Also, the study found that in addition to 90% of the lung cancer cases being caused by smoking, there is an additional significant variable that plays a vital role in this, air pollution exposure. Of the 90% of patients with smoking exposure in the study, a substantial number has atmospheric particulate matter (PM2.5 ) exposure, with a severity of 0.77 (Chang, Lau & Moolgavkar, 2020). Therefore, the findings directly translate air pollution exposure as the cofounding variable of lung cancer- smoking exposure correlation (Barrat & Kirwan, 2009)
Conclusion
The exposure to PM 2.5 on the people who have smoking exposure despite the level are more likely to suffer from lung cancer. Although the principal causative agent of lung cancer is smoking, there is substantial evidence-based support that shows that air pollution exposure increases a person’s chances of suffering from the same. Therefore, disregarding the potential cofounder may lead to misleading analyses and conclusions drawn.
References
Chang, E. T., Lau, E. C., & Moolgavkar, S. H. (2020). Smoking, air pollution, and lung cancer risk in the Nurses’ Health Study cohort: time-dependent confounding and effect modification. Critical Reviews in Toxicology, 50(3), 189-200.
Barrat, H. & Kirwan, M. (2009) Confounding, interactions, methods for assessment of effect modification. Health Knowledge. Retrieved from http://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/research-methods/1a-epidemiology/confounding-interactions-methods