Lung Cancer Facts Made Simple

Did you know that lung caner kills more women every year than breast cancer? After heart disease, lung cancer is the leading cause of death in both men and women. What makes it worse is that women, it seems, have an increased susceptibility to lung cancer as compared to men.

As usual, it is smoking that is the single biggest risk factor when it comes to women developing lung cancer. Even exposure to passive cigarette smoke — where the women does not smoke herself, but is exposed to second-hand smoke from other smokers in the vicinity — increases the risk substantially. In fact, passive smoking may be even riskier because the smoke enters the body without any filtering.

See this article to know how many people have cancer in the United States.

It is estimated that about 20 percent of women in Western societies still smoke. This is in spite of sustained media campaigns that highlight the dangers of smoking, in practically all countries.

The Journal of Clinical Oncology notes that women who smoke are at greater risk of developing lung cancer as compared to men who smoke. Even women who have never lit up a smoke in their entire lives are at greater risk of going down with lung cancer than men in comparable situations.

This difference is on account of metabolic, hormonal and other differences between men and women.

Nor is it only smoking that increases risks of cancer. Does make-up cause cancer? Apparently it does, see that article for more information.

If a woman quits smoking, does her risk of developing lung cancer come down to that of women who never smoked? Unfortunately, no. Once you have smoked for at least some length of time, you will always have a higher risk of developing lung cancer. However, the overall risk does come down once you quit smoking. So it does make plenty of sense to get rid of smoking forever.

If the doctor suspects the presence of lung cancer, he will move fast to do further testing to confirm or deny the presence of the disease. Time is of the essence because lung cancer offers a very poor prognosis if it is detected at later stages.

Here is a partial list of what the doctor will look at:

* The patient’s medical history
* Smoking habits. Exposure to second-hand smoke.
* Family history of cancer.
* Exposure to hazardous substances in the workplace or elsewhere.
* Measurement of lung capacity and function.
* Listening for abnormal sounds in the lung using a stethoscope
* Check for swollen lymph nodes in the armpit or neck. Check the midsection for signs of a swollen liver or tumor masses.
* Chest x-ray. This can reveal cancerous masses, but there are also many cases of tumors not showing up on x-rays because of their small size or because they were behind a bone.
* Examination of sputum cells under a microscope. These cells are obtained through deep coughs.
* Lung tissue biopsy.

Check out this article - are there any main causes of cancer? You’ll find out about the top causes as well as possible preventive measures.

If the cancer is caused by overuse of alcohol or by smoking / other tobacco use, it can certainly be prevented. Most cases of lung cancer originate from tobacco use and so are preventable.

There are other factors that can cause cancer. Some of them include lack of exercise, obesity and poor nutrition. Obviously, these types of cancers can be prevented with the right lifestyle changes. At the very least, the chances of getting cancer from these causative factors can be minimized.

Prolonged exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays can contribute to skin cancer. The incidence of this type of cancer could be significantly reduced by regulating exposure to the sun and also by avoiding practices like indoor tanning.

So yes, certain types of cancers can be prevented.