Lung Cancer

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month.

With the death of 44-year old Dana Reeve, a nonsmoker, there is growing awareness among women and nonsmokers about lung cancer. Did you know that nonsmoking women are nearly twice as likely to get lung cancer as nonsmoking men? According to the Lung Cancer Alliance:

Lung cancer causes more deaths each year than breast, prostate, colon, liver, melanoma and kidney cancers combined.
Lung cancer will kill approximately 71,030 women in the US this year - more than breast and all gynecological cancers combined.
Lung cancer deaths among women skyrocketed about 150% over the last two decades, while the number for men increased by 20%.
One in 17 women will develop lung cancer in her lifetime.
African-American women develop lung cancer at about the same rate as white women, even though smoking rates are lower among African-American women. African-American women who have never smoked have higher death rates than white women who have never smoked.
The five year survival rate for lung cancer is still only 15% while other cancers that have received significant federal research funding such as breast, prostate and colon cancers now have 5 year survival rates of 87%, 99% and 64% respectively.

Lung cancer is caused by cigarette smoking and second hand smoke, radon, environmental carcinogens (such as arsenic, asbestos, uranium, and diesel fuel), radiation therapy to the chest area, and possibly family history. Studies suggest estrogen may play a role in the development of lung cancer among women.

To reduce the risk factors for you and your family, first encourage all smokers in your family to stop smoking. However, even if you quit smoking, you are still at risk. Fifty percent of new cases are diagnosed in former smokers. While your risk never returns to zero once you have been a smoker, the longer you have been a nonsmoker, the lower your risk. Avoid exposing yourself or your children to second hand smoke at home, in public places, or at family gatherings.

Some lung cancers are not caused by smoking. For example, exposure to radon puts people at risk for lung cancer. Radon is an invisible, odorless, tasteless radioactive gas that occurs naturally in soil and rocks. Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, with an estimated 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year related to radon exposure, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. You can have your home tested for radon.

Lung cancer's symptoms may vary and sometimes are not obvious until the very late stages. When lung cancer does cause symptoms, they can include the following: coughing (most common) , shortness of breath, fatigue, wheezing, pain in the chest, shoulder, upper back, or arm, coughing up blood, repeated pneumonia or bronchitis, loss of appetite and weight loss, general pain, hoarseness and swelling of face or neck. If you or a loved one experiences these symptoms, you should see a doctor.

Lung cancer has suffered an image problem for decades. Most believe it's solely a smoker's disease resulting in a "blame the patient" mentality. In fact, more than 65% of those diagnosed today either never smoked, like Dana Reeve, or quit decades ago, like Peter Jennings. Despite its enormous public health impact, lung cancer receives less than a tenth of the research funding per death provided to other major cancers. Lung cancer is the most stigmatized, ignored, and misunderstood of all cancers. Thankfully, due to the increased attention and funding for breast cancer, those survival rates have increased dramatically. Unfortunately lung cancer, the invisible and yet deadliest cancer, doesn't even have enough survivors to sustain a movement!

For more information, visit the Lung Cancer Alliance web site at www.lungcanceralliance.org. To get involved or for local support call 518-482-3142

Lunch Time Series

December 11, 2008

Family Literacy:

A Key to Improved Health

March 12, 2009
Diabetes in Pregnancy:

How to Have a Healthy Outcome for Mother and Baby

June 4, 2009

Fatherhood:

An Open Discussion on How to Engage Men in the Lives of Their Children

All programs are brown bag lunches.

Drinks and dessert will be provided.

All programs run from 11:30-1:30 and will be held at