Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Lung Cancer Research Shows Race Play A Role

There is an interesting article in the AP, that says that black people are more likely to get lung cancer than any other race. The study was recorded in The New England Journal of Medicine. I am going to check with my dad if he can find me a copy of this article at work. I know I won't understand a lot of the medical stuff, but I am still curious about the actual article.

Although the article focuses mostly on smoking, since that is where the research is done, I found this point to be very intersting:

Black, Hispanic and Japanese-American men who never smoked had higher risks of lung cancer than white men, but hardly any difference was seen in women in the same ethnic groups.

Some of the things I would like to see reported is how this disease affects bi-racial children. We have a lot of bi-racial kids in our family. One of my cousins has two half-Iranian daughters. They are beautiful girls. Another cousin just had a baby boy, who is half-Chinese. Calem is half-black. I espcially worry about Calem. Will being bi-racial decrease his risk of the disease, or will it increase the risk? Will the fact that he was sharing 9 months of space with cancer affect his future? Only time, and careful watching of his health, will tell.

But, I think the most important thing this article highlights is that it is important to stop smoking to prevent lung cancer. No matter what race you are.

Posted by Lynda :: 2:26 PM :: 5 people are more aware ---------------------------------------