How To Prevent Lung Cancer

Knowing how to prevent lung cancer is extremely important in preventing the pain and struggle of the developing disease.

You can learn how to prevent lung cancer and spare yourself from this dreadful disease.. Doctors are unsure why some people get lung cancer and why others do not with the same exposures, but they do know what kinds of things can cause lung cancer. For example, lung cancer is often caused by smoking.

Quitting smoking always helps.

Any type of exposure that can cause lung cancer is a risk factor. Some risk factors are unavoidable, while others can be controlled. Smoking is a risk factor that can be controlled.

Exposure to secondhand smoke is another risk factor that can be controlled. Laws that limit smoking in public places play a part here.

Genetics also plays a role in understanding prevention of lung cancer. You may have a greater chance of getting lung cancer if other family members have had the disease. There is something in the genetics of some families that makes lung cancer more likely. Quitting is always a help.

Tobacco and lung cancer are related.

Ninety percent of all lung cancer patients are smokers. People who switch to nicotine sprays, nicotine patches, nicotine or nicotine lozenges reduce their chances of getting lung cancer.

You may still develop lung cancer if you have never smoked, but the chances of both getting it and dying from it are reduced.

Your doctor can teach you how to prevent lung cancer. Some people use antidepressants to prevent lung cancer: the medicine blocks the urge to smoke and enables you to quit.

A smoker who quits lowers their chances of developing lung cancer to normal after 10-15 years. The lungs do eventually heal.

Improving air quality is related to lung cancer prevention.

If you are exposed to asbestos, a commonly used insulation material, you can get a form of lung cancer called mesothelioma. Other environmental hazards that can cause lung cancer include:

• radon (a radioactive gas),
• arsenic (a poison),
• nickel,
• chromium,
• tar and soot from fireplaces or other fire sources.

You run a risk of developing lung cancer if you are exposed to these chemicals even if you have never smoked; if you do smoke, your chances, of course, are greater.

Some doctors believe that air pollution causes lung cancer; even a non-smoker's chances of developing the disease are greater in such a place. Lung cancer prevention depends as much on what you avoid as it does on what actions you take.

If you don't have much beta carotene in your diet or if you don't take beta carotene supplements, your chances are higher than normal. If you eat a diet high in vegetables and whole fruits, you can lower your chances.

You can prevent lung cancer by exercising regularly and avoiding alcohol. Exercise three to five times a week and for up to an hour at a time.

Back to top