Detecting Lung Cancer Blog

Although many discussions are focused on secondhand smoke and its relation to lung cancer risk, it is important to understand that secondhand smoke, as a “known human carcinogen,” is probably responsible for many other problems besides lung cancer.

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month has been around for 25 years. Now, every October, the country turns pink—politicians and celebrities wear pink ribbon pins, fountains flow with pink water and pink sweat suits fill the streets for walkathons.

One of the risk factors for lung cancer can be attributed to a family history of the disease. It should also be noted that  cancer in a close relative does not necessarily have be lung cancer to still pose a risk.

Imagine the population of a city the size of Dayton, Ohio, or Tempe, Arizona, or Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Now imagine populations of that same size being lost each and every year!

That is, in effect, what happens with lung cancer. The disease accounts for nearly 160,000 deaths each year—roughly the population of each of the three cities above.

Gale started smoking in 1976 at the age of 16.

Smoking was the cool thing to do, and her neighborhood friend Shuanna-who was very cool-smoked, so Gale took it up. Why not, even her high school had a designated smoking area on school grounds as an attempt to regulate smoking.

I recently attended a couple of 5K events for cancer awareness, and they could not have been more different.

The first was a Race for the Cure event that attracted 25,000 participants and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. It was a great event for a great cause! The second was a similar function: a 5K event for lung cancer awareness, but it only attracted about 100 participants and a raised only a few thousands of dollars!

Why such a disparity in attendees and funds raised?