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Early Symptoms of Lung Cancer

Knowing and understanding the early symptoms of lung cancer is one of the most important things that those who are at risk for the disease can do. Lung cancer is the most treatable when it is discovered early, and the only way to discover it early enough is to recognize and report the early symptoms of lung cancer. If you are noticing a combination of these lung cancer symptoms, be sure to talk to your doctor. One of the early symptoms of lung cancer is a nagging cough that simply will not get better. Often the cough worsens with time and is accompanied by chronic chest pain. Coughing up blood is another of the many early symptoms of lung cancer. In fact, coughing up blood is one of the biggest symptoms that sends lung cancer patients to their doctors. Recurring bronchitis or pneumonia sometimes indicates that the disease is present. Fatigue and shortness of breath are more symptoms to watch out for if you suspect the disease. No matter what the symptoms are, if you have lung cancer, t...

Lung Cancer Screening - Do Chest X-Rays Help?

There is one indisputable fact about lung cancer -- the earlier the disease is detected, the better the chances of curing it. This is why lung cancer screening is of prime importance. Doctors point out that although the overall survival rate for lung cancer at the five-year mark is only 15%, the survival rate for those whose cancer was detected early and could be surgically treated is as high as 80%. For this reason, some doctors recommend periodic lung cancer screening with chest x-rays. Once this disease has progressed somewhat, it will spread rapidly to other areas of the lung and to critical organs all over the body. At that stage, surgery is no longer a viable treatment method. Unfortunately, the early stages of lung cancer do not give rise to any alarming symptoms. Common symptoms include a persistent cough, a tendency to get respiratory illnesses, etc. These symptoms are not linked to lung cancer alone. This is why lung cancer is rarely diagnosed till it is too late. In this con...

Do You Know These 5 Unusual Lung Cancer Symptoms?

Lung cancer is one of the top killers in developed and of late developing countries. More than a million deaths are reported worldwide. Smoking still remains the number one risk factor for lung cancer. Other risk factors include passive or second-hand smoke, Asbestos exposure, Radon exposure, and genetic mutations. Lung cancer remains one of the most preventive cancers and yet many people are falling prey to this deadly cancer. Early diagnosis still remains the mainstay in helping people with lung cancer have a longer life expectancy. There are some unusual symptoms of lung cancer that you should be aware of to help in an early diagnosis. 1. Shoulder or upper back pain: Shoulder or upper back pain is an often unnoticed symptom of lung cancer caused by the tumour pressing on the lining of the lungs. 2. Swelling of the face and neck: The venous drainage of the upper part of the body is Superior Venacava. Pressure from the tumour can lead to impaired venous and lymphatic drainage leading ...

Lung Cancer - A Look at the Numbers

It is a known fact that lung cancer is the second leading cause of death and the biggest cause of cancer deaths in both sexes in the West. It accounts for about 30% of all deaths from cancer. The unfortunate reality is that many of those deaths could have been prevented -- fully 85% of all lung cancers are caused by smoking. This includes those who breathe in second-hand smoke from others in the vicinity. If everyone were to give up smoking, the incidence of lung cancer would drop dramatically. After smoking, radon exposure is the second most common cause of lung cancer in America. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that about 21,000 deaths are caused every year by radon exposure. Among various ethnic groups, the incidence of lung cancer is highest among African Americans. This is because of a high cultural propensity among this group to take up the smoking habit. This is also one of the deadliest forms of cancer around. To give some comparative statistics, the five-year ...

Important Information About Lung Cancer

In 2004 lung cancer killed more people than breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colon cancer combined. Lung cancer accounts for 31% of all deaths from cancer, and 90% of these could have been prevented if people had not smoked cigarettes or other products containing nicotine and tar. In 2005 according to the American Cancer Society and the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) approximately 555,312 people died of lung cancer in the USA which accounted for about 22.8% of all deaths in the US. The American Cancer Society and the CDC estimates that in 2008 over 215,020 new cases of lung cancer will exist. Within these stats around 114,000 men and 100,000 women will be involved. Lung cancer is the second biggest killer among people. And in 2008 out of 745,180 men tested, 15% have lung cancer and out of 692,000 women tested, 14% lung have some form of cancer. The top killer for men is prostate and the top for women is breast cancer. Nicotine is highly addictive, smoke containing n...

Lung Cancer in Non-Smokers

More and more often, I come across cases of nonsmokers who develop lung cancer. My attention is always drawn to news of this nature because my husband passed away at the age of 51 from brain and lung cancer. He never smoked a day in his life. The complacency non-smokers have shared over the years is no longer a viable option. Smokers and non-smokers alike are vulnerable to a disease which is largely incurable. Among patients with lung cancer, only about 14% live five years after their diagnosis. In the face of a disease that seems to have neither rhyme nor reason, what can we do to protect ourselves? First, assess your risk for lung cancer; then take measures to prevent the disease. What are the risk factors for lung cancer? Gender: Unfortunately, women seem to be more vulnerable to lung cancer. Research has shown that female smokers are more susceptible to the cancer-causing chemicals found in cigarettes. In another study, a gene linked to abnormal lung cancer cell growth was found to...

Lung Cancer: Not Just a Man's Killer

Lung cancer has long been associated as a killer of men but now it has passed breast cancer as the number one killing cancer of women. The American Cancer Society states that women are 1.5 times more likely to get lung cancer than men. Studies also show that African American women are more likely to get lung cancer than white women. While smoking is a leading cause of lung cancer to smokers, secondhand smoke also causes lung cancer and coronary heart disease to nonsmokers. There are about 20% of the women diagnosed with lung cancer who have never smoked (American Cancer Society). Some factors besides secondhand smoke includes: exposure to radon or asbestos, inhaling toxic chemicals or minerals, or just being genetically predisposed to getting it. However, the upside is that nonsmokers do generally respond positively to the treatments given for their cancer. Lung cancer is caused by certain cells in the body malfunctioning and dividing abnormally. These cells end up producing excessive ...