It is estimated that a non-smoker's lifetime risk of lung cancer is 1 in 100 while a smoker's risk is 1 in 12. Among which group of people do you belong? Are you worried that your risk of developing lung cancer is high?
Lung cancer like any other forms of cancer is a much-dreaded disease. Because it doesn't have visible symptoms during the early stage, it is often diagnosed during the later stage of the disease when the cancer has already spread to other organs and when treatment becomes difficult and survival rate is low.
People who are likely to develop lung cancer are those who have one or more of the following risk factors.
1. Women are more prone to develop lung cancer than men are. One study shows that a gene associate with abnormal cell growth was found to be more active in women than in men whether these women smoked or not. Some research also shows that smoking women are more susceptible to the cancer-causing chemicals found in cigarettes than their male counterparts.
2. Smoking is one of the greatest risk factor of lung cancer. It is estimated that 9 out of 10 lung cancer cases are caused by smoking. A person's risk of developing lung cancer increases with the number of years he or she has smoked. The longer the person has been smoking, the higher is his or her risk of developing lung cancer.
3. Sad news for people who have not even puffed a single cigarette but are continually exposed to cigarette smoke; your risk of developing lung cancer rises as much as 30 percent especially if you are exposed daily to second-hand smoking.
4. Exposure to radon, an odorless gas found in water and the ground, increases a person's risk of developing lung cancer. Radon is considered to be the second most common cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking.
5. Our workplace can sometimes increase our risk of developing lung cancer. People who are exposed to carcinogens like arsenic, asbestos, chloromethyl ether and chromium compounds in their workplaces have higher risk of developing lung cancer. It is estimated that about 9,000 men and 900 women develop lung cancer annually due to workplace exposure of known carcinogenic compounds. The risk becomes even greater for people who smoke.
6. Women who undergo estrogen replacement may be at higher risk of developing lung cancer. According to researchers from the University of Pittsburg, the growth of non-small-cell lung cancer may be fueled by estrogen.
It is important that lung cancer be detected early. The symptomless early stages often mislead lung cancer patients into believing that there is nothing wrong with his or her health. Often it is already late and cancer has already spread to other areas before diagnosis is being made. Those who are well informed about the possibility and the level of their risk of developing lung cancer will be able to seek for medical check-up and professional opinion early before the disease can even spread.
Listed below are more articles related to the above article from the "Lung Mesothelioma Asbestos" article category.
People interested in the above article "Are You At Risk Of Developing Lung Cancer?" are also interested in the related articles listed below:
Studies show that there is an increase of lung cancer instances among workers exposed to asbestos. In lieu to this, asbestos lung cancer has become one of the most dreaded types of lung cancer. The causes of lung cancer vary. Aside from exposure to asbestos, smoking and air pollution can trigger the onset of the disease. Therefore, avoiding these possible cancer-causing agents is essential for healthy lungs.
If you are in the construction business or employed by an industry that uses products containing asbestos, you may wonder "Are asbestos fibers visible to the eye"? Generally asbestos fibers are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Asbestos becomes dangerous when it has broken down into small fibers and is inhaled. It is nearly impossible to detect the presence of asbestos without taking the material to a lab for testing. A lab technician will put the material under a microscope to search for asbestos fibers. Asbestos does not cause an immediate reaction. It will not cause you to cough, sneeze, or your eyes to water. You cannot see, smell, or taste asbestos.
Cigarette smoking is probably the most closely related link to developing lung cancer. A person who smokes two packs or more of cigarettes per day has a one in seven chance of developing lung cancer. Those that smoke one pack of cigarettes per day have a twenty-five times greater chance of developing lung cancer than a non-smoker. In addition, those people that smoke a pipe or cigar have a five times greater chance of developing lung cancer than a non-smoker.
Asbestos is a problem in homes that a lot of people have heard about, but few understand. It is a mineral fiber capable of standing up to intense temperatures, added to a variety of products before people realized it was dangerous. It is now considered toxic waste, but previously was used in a some building equipment due to its low cost and heat resistance. In the 1970s, the Environmental Protection Agency instituted a decade-long phase out of its use, but many older homes still contain the material. Asbestos is now considered a liability, and is sometimes the determining factor in whether a buyer will purchase a home or whether a mortgage company will provide a loan. If you suspect asbestos
It would almost seem like a given in this day and age that people would know and understand that smoking greatly increases the risk of lung cancer. Secondhand smoke has even been linked with increased lung cancer risks. Even were a person to never smoke a cigarette or be subjected to secondhand smoke, the possibility of lung cancer remains very real. But smoking cigarettes is nothing short of adding more bullets to a gun being used to play Russian Roulette-eventually, the odds of getting lung cancer will become impossible to ignore.
Covering our internal organs, the mesothelium is a protective tissue that lubricates and protects our internal organs thus allowing our lungs to breathe and our heart to contract or expand without any discomfort for us.This fine tissue, the mesothelium enables breathing and heart beating therefore being essential to our survival.
Among the various type of cancer deaths, lung cancer is responsible for 29 percent of that. Hence, you can begin protecting yourself now by arming yourself with the general facts on lung cancer before it's too late.
