Detecting Lung Cancer Blog

There has been much discussion in the news lately on the increased exposure to radiation and the impact that has on developing cancer.

A recent case in point is th story “Should We Worry About Radiation Exposure From New Airport Scanners?” published on Time Healthland.com. Though that story itself is of personal interest as a frequent flyer, the real reason for my post and what you might find more surprising are other sources of radiation exposure we find around us every day.

In November 2010, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) released initial results from the National Lung Screening Trial, a large-scale test of screening methods used to detect cancers early, in hopes of reducing lung cancer deaths.

The national trial involving more than 53,000 current and former heavy smokers from the ages of 55 to 74, compared the effects of two screening procedures for lung cancer -- computed tomography (CT) and standard chest X-ray -- on lung cancer mortality and found 20 percent fewer lung cancer deaths among trial participants screened with low-dose helical CT; see details here. 

As noted in this reprint of a recent article that appeared in the Daily Beast, smoking accounts for 450,000 US deaths each year, and lung cancer is a third of those deaths.

That said, smoking prevalence fluctuates greatly from state to state and city to city across the United States. 

In honor of January, the recent and often overlooked Radon Awareness Month, I want to share my personal concerns about exposure to radon and the risk of this deadly carcinogen.

I was 11 years old when my sister Tina was born. We lived in a small, three bedroom ranch house in suburban St. Louis. As my family grew, it became readily apparent that trying to fit five people into the small house wasn’t practical, and something needed to be done.

It was decided it was time to move the soon-to-be-teenager into the basement.

The dangers of passive inhalation, also known as secondhand smoke, have been in the news for years. 

Secondhand smoke has been blamed for a number of illnesses, including lung cancer.