Friday, November 25, 2005

Early Lung Cancer Detection

Unfortunately, it seems that the fight for lung cancer is also the fight to stop smoking. This is because so often, people who smoke are the ones that get lung cancer. But, it is important for people to be aware that even non-smokers and people who never have touched a cigarette in their lives can get lung cancer. And if you do smoke, your chances of getting lung cancer will be greatly reduced if you quit. (If you are interested in quitting, a site I found out about in Self magazine is X-pack.org that will help you quit for under $10 - might be worth a look!)

Here are some signs for early dectection of lung cancer from Lung Cancer Support Community:

Common warning sign is a cough, which occurs when a tumor irritates the lining of the airways or blocks the passage of air.

In addition to a new cough, be alert for:

• "Smoker's cough" that worsens
• Coughing up blood, even a small amount
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• New onset of wheezing
• Repeated bouts of pneumonia or bronchitis
• Hoarseness that lasts more than 2 week

Lung cancer also may cause:

• fatigue
• loss of appetite
• weight loss.
• If it has spread to other parts of your body (metastasized), you may have headaches or bone pain.

If you are a non-smoker, I strongly encourage you to request a lung cancer screening from your doctor. My sister, Laurianne, was a non-smoker and she was first diagnosed with pregnancy related asthma. It is very common for doctors to not diagnose lung cancer in non-smokers because of the stigma that it is a smoking disease. I know that every time I cough, I worry about this now, even though I never even experimented with cigarettes, just because of my sister. I probably will worry about this for the rest of my life.

With that said, I hope you all find that you are healthy and have a happy holidays! My dad will be posting again soon!

Posted by Lynda :: 1:47 PM :: 1 people are more aware ---------------------------------------