Sociology is the study of human social relationships and institutions. Sociologyâs subject matter is diverse, ranging from crime to religion, from the family to the state, from the divisions of race and social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture, and from social stability to radical change in whole societies.
Smoking leads to the lung disease, emphysema. In smokers, the presence of irritants in the mucus build up in the lungs and causes inflammation. A large number of phagocytic white blood cells migrate to the alveoli. The elastase produced by these cells breaks down elastin and other proteins in the wall of the alveoli.
1 Non-smokers who reside with a smoker have a 24% increase in risk for developing lung cancer when compared with other non-smokers. 2  Each year, up to 3,000 lung cancer deaths are estimated to occur in the U.S. that are attributable to passive smoking.edical Editor: Jay W. Marks, MD. While cigarette smoking is an undisputed cause of lung cancer, not all cases of lung cancer occur in smokers or former smokers. Each year, over 170,000 Americans develop lung cancer, and approximately ten per cent of lung cancers, or 17,000 cases, occur in non-smokers.