Well then lets tell stuff....
I would estimate that something like less than 10% of my patients who were long term smokers have Cancer.
That was the good news.
The bad news is that I have an endless supply of patients who were/are smokers. I happen to be involved in a very sorry business.
We refer to them (our patients) as COPDers, and many of them are what we know as are "Retainers. (Not all COPDers are smokers, but for this comment, I'll shortcut...)"
Smokers, over a period of time so screw up their bodies that their brains have to adapt. Their chemoreceptors actually become somewhat dysfunctional, and so then the inability for their sympathetic nervous system to recognize insufficient levels of Oxygen can cause them to stop breathing.
It is interesting stuff, but you'll not get much more of a lesson out here from me.
Anybody stupid enough to inhale smoke in the first place is pretty much an imbecile in my opinion.
Do you really wish to engage here in this place and demonstrate more of your ignorance?
“Do you really wish to engage here in this place and demonstrate more of your ignorance?”
No doubt folks get COPD. And like you offered, some never smoked. Some were never even exposed to smoke and still got COPD. Is that ignorant? Or is it fact? Nevermind, you’ve already answered.
Can smoking cause health problems in some? I don’t doubt it. Do you work with some? You say you do, so I’ll just have to take your word for it. Have I worked with some? You’ll just have to take my word for it that I have been exposed to some of the same clinical situations as you.
Your situation now is to deal with the problem. It is not your business to seek to determine their lifestyle. Afterall, they are giving you meaningful work with a reasonable income.