Since its inaugural year in 2012, World Lung Cancer Day has been recognized every year on August 1 with the purpose of raising awareness of lung cancer issues. Lung and health organizations hope the magnified efforts will achieve more lung cancer research funding to help us learn more about the leading cancer killer and to be better equipped to fight this deadly disease.
Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer death in the United States for men and women, accounting for about one in five of all cancer deaths. Lung cancer develops when cells in the lung mutate, often because of exposure to dangerous chemicals. However, people with no known exposure to dangerous toxins can also be affected by lung cancer. Simply put, anyone can get lung cancer.
Various factors can cause the cells in your lungs to change or mutate. This is why being educated on the risk factors for lung cancer is important. Some risk factors you can change, while others, such as your age or family history, you cannot. But just because you have a risk factor, or maybe even more than one, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are definitely getting lung cancer. And sadly, some people with no risk factors get the disease. There is no matter-of-fact way to know whether or not you will be diagnosed with lung cancer.
You must do your best to change the risk factors you can and try to manage the ones you can’t by living a healthy lifestyle.
Risk Factors of Lung Cancer
- Smoking tobacco – 7 out of 10 lung cancers are caused by smoking
- Secondhand smoke
- Radon – causes 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year
- Asbestos
- Environmental pollution – greatest environmental lung cancer risk
- Genetics – hereditary lung cancer is exceedingly rare, but family history does increase your risk
Early detection is key to beating and overcoming lung cancer. Unfortunately, lung cancer often goes undiagnosed for years because symptoms are often thought to be related to something else, or symptoms don’t even appear until the cancer has spread outside of the lungs.
Talk to your provider today about getting your lung cancer screening. Call 866-926-3831.