Many smokers believe just a few cigarettes a day AREN'T harmful

Smokers still wrongly believe just a few cigarettes a day aren't damaging their health, researchers have warned.

A third of smokers claimed up to 10 cigarettes a day was not associated with any risk of lung cancer, French doctors found.

And only half of smokers considered themselves at higher risk of lung cancer than the general population.

Less than two fifths were aware that the risk of lung cancer remains even after they stop smoking.

Doctors warn the battle over tobacco is far from over as many smokers are still in denial of the dangers tobacco poses - despite decades of health campaigns.

The study analysed the results of a survey of 1,600 French people aged 40 to 75 years.

This included 1,463 people with no history of cancer, of whom 481 were former smokers and 330 current smokers with an average daily habit of 14.2 cigarettes.

Dr Laurent Greillier, from Hopital Nord in Marseille, said: 'Nowadays everyone knows that smoking is a risk factor for developing several cancers, especially lung cancer.

'In this new survey we hypothesised that the perception of the risk of developing this disease could be influenced by personal smoking history. 

In other words, he thought smokers would be more aware of the risk of ill-health from cigarettes. 

But he was shocked to find that only half of those quizzed felt there was no such thing as a 'safe cigarette'.

'This finding is particularly impressive and threatening,' said Dr Greillier. 'It shows that relatively low cigarette consumption is considered as "safe" for a lot of people.' 

'It seems that people are aware about the dangers of tobacco for health, but might consider that the risks are not for themselves, but only for other people.'

He added it was essential that public health policies continue to focus on the tobacco pandemic. 

'The war against tobacco is not over,' he said. 

The findings were presented at the European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC) in Geneva, Switzerland.

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