Lung Cancer Symptoms, What You Need To Know.

Lung Cancer Symptoms,  What You Need To Know. by 

 Lung cancer is now the most common form of cancer in the United States. causes more death than any other cancer cases among men and women in this country. Fourteen percent of all cancer records in the United States are cases and twenty-eight percent of cancer deaths are from patients.

Major causes of lung cancers are cigarette smoking and breathing impure air including asbestos exposure.  Asbestos exposure can lead to Mesothelioma, a cancer in the lining of the lungs or abdominal cavity.

Severity of depends greatly to the amount of time a person spent smoking. As compared to non-smokers, smokers are at high risk of lung cancer. In fact, smokers are twenty-two percent more at risk of acquiring than their non-smoking counterpart.

Additionally, because symptoms do not manifest until it is already on its advanced stage, minor symptoms are often ignored.

This is because minor symptom such as frequent coughing is often associated with itchiness in the throat. Smokers believe that this is an ordinary occurrence among smokers, thus they are not alarmed until they feel more severe symptoms.

When this happens, truly the symptom shows because of the advanced stage of the cancer. The uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the lungs is already manifesting through the symptoms and by this time, secondary cancer cells are already developing in other organs of the body.

Severe symptoms include persistent coughing, chronic chest pain, which is associated with shortness of breathing, wheezing and hoarseness of the voice.

Often, because of the similarity of symptoms to bronchial asthma, people who self medicate usually try to treat the shortness of breathing with asthma medication.

The medication is thus useless because it is not working on the actual disease. It is thus imperative that minor discomforts such as shortness of breathing be brought to the attention of a competent doctor for evaluation. 

Genetic Variant Raises Lung Cancer Risk (HealthDay)
HealthDay - TUESDAY, March 9 (HealthDay News) -- People with a particular genetic trait are at much higher risk of developing lung cancer from exposure to secondhand smoke than others, even if they rarely come into contact with it, a new study finds.
Processed Meat May Harm the Heart (HealthDay)
HealthDay - FRIDAY, March 5 (HealthDay News) -- Conventional wisdom has dictated that fat from red meat is a risk factor for heart disease, but a new analysis from Harvard researchers finds it's eating processed meat -- not unprocessed red meat -- that increases the risk for heart disease and even diabetes.
Smoking tied to lung cancer in women with HIV (Reuters)
Reuters - Women infected with HIV or at risk of becoming infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, appear more likely to develop lung cancer than women in the general population, possibly because they are much more likely to smoke cigarettes, study findings hint.
Cancer society casts more doubt on prostate tests (AP)
AP - Months after experts discounted the importance of routine mammograms and Pap smears for many women, the American Cancer Society is warning more explicitly than ever that regular testing for prostate cancer is of questionable value too, and can do men more harm than good.
New guidelines on prostate cancer urge frank talk (Reuters)
Reuters - New guidelines from the American Cancer Society urge doctors to make sure their patients fully understand the risks as well as the benefits of prostate cancer screening before any blood is drawn.
New Treatment Eyed for Deadly Pancreatic Cancer (HealthDay)
HealthDay - FRIDAY, Feb. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Most pancreatic cancer patients die soon after diagnosis, but researchers have identified an oncogene that appears to be a promising new treatment target.
New Bone Drug May Prevent Fractures But Raise Clot Risk (HealthDay)
HealthDay - WEDNESDAY, Feb. 24 (HealthDay News) -- A new drug to fight osteoporosis, the bone condition associated with aging and debilitating fractures, reduces the risk of fractures and the risk of some breast cancers, heart disease and stroke, according to a new study.
Hormone replacement tied to lung cancer risk (Reuters)
Reuters - Women who use hormone replacement therapy combining estrogen and progestin may have a higher risk of lung cancer than non-users, a new study finds.
Information Gap Could Delay Lung Cancer Therapy in Blacks (HealthDay)
HealthDay - MONDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Black Americans are more likely than whites to have beliefs and perceptions about lung cancer that could interfere with prevention and treatment, new study findings suggest.
Surgery Alone May Thwart Stage 1 Lung Cancer (HealthDay)
HealthDay - FRIDAY, Feb. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Surgery alone offers a reasonable overall level of survival for patients with stage 1 small cell lung cancer, a new study suggests.

This will avoid treating a disease with a different medication such as in self-medicating patients.

Other symptoms are blood in sputum, recurring cases of pneumonia or bronchitis, neck and facial swelling, sudden weight loss and constant feeling of fatigue. All these symptoms occur on the terminal stage of the cancer, and this makes it almost impossible to manage and it symptoms.

Additionally, because there is still no known cure for lung cancer, treatments especially on its advanced stage are done to lessen the severity of the symptoms. Remission of the disease may no longer happen on the advanced stage.

Thus, it is imperative that minor symptoms be monitored.  It is still easier to manage at this stage, other than in the advanced stage.

Finally, as mentioned earlier, smoking is the major cause of lung cancer, if you cease smoking, this effort will help you slow down the possibility of lung cancer.  Even for those long time smokers, withdrawing from smoking will help lessen the possibility of acquiring the disease.

Keeping a healthy body and strong immune system will help avoid for smokers or non-smokers alike.

Smokers may cease from smoking to help ensure they will not suffer in the future. Then, they will not have to worry about symptoms because halting smoking will also halt the possibility of acquiring this deadly disease.

Regular exercise will help ensure your immune system will be strong enough to fight and thus no symptoms will ever occur.

Living a healthy and active lifestyle, and avoiding smoking will ensure you will leave longer and better.

Mark MacKay is a freelance health columnist. He is also the creator of Treatments, a web site setup to help people find useful and accurate information on Lung Cancer. Visit his site at http://www.Lung-Cancer-Explained.info

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