On Healthy Living

With the death of Dana Reeve making news all over the world, there’s a new focus lately on lung cancer, especially since she got lung cancer having never been a smoker and not working in a smoky environment.

Most women who don’t smoke think they aren’t at risk for lung cancer, but it is the leading cancer killer of women (and men as well), killing more women each year than breast and ovarian cancer combined. That’s more than 68,000 women who will die from lung cancer each year (and about 163,000 people die from lung cancer each year).

While the rate of lung cancer in men has increased only 20 percent in the last 20 years, the rate among women has jumped 150 percent. About one in four cancer deaths among women is attributed to lung cancer and women are 1.5 times more likely to get lung cancer than men are.

Of course the vast majority (more than 80 percent) of these cancers are related to smoking or long-term exposure to secondhand smoke (from working in a bar for many years, for instance). Other cases of lung cancer have been linked to environmental exposure to such toxins as asbestos, radon, uranium, arsenic, coal, disel exhaust and gasoline. Vinyl, chloride and mustard gas have also been linked to lung cancer.

Air pollution is also thought to play a role. Those who have had radiation to the lungs are at higher risk for lung cancer, and people who eat a diet low in fruits and vegetables and also smoke or are exposed to smoke are thought to have a higher chance of getting lung cancer. People who have had TB or severe pneumonia may have scarring on the lungs that can contribute to cancer.

Early detection of lung cancer is difficult. When symptoms appear (like a persistent cough and trouble breathing or speaking) it has usually progressed pretty far. Lung cancer is also difficult to treat. No great strides have been made in treating lung cancer as there have been for other cancers. Many doctors say that is because people who get lung cancer are often thought to have brought it on themselves by smoking so there’s no great rush to come up with breakthrough cures. Perhaps this episode will educate people on the disease and bring attention to those who get lung cancer without smoking.

For more information on lung cancer, visit It’s Time to Focus on Lung Cancer.

Sarah White wrote this on March 8th, 2006 and filed it under Healthy Living, Women's Health, Men's Health |