What Causes Lung Cancer

What causes lung cancer has been repeated on packaging since the Johnson administration. It has caused bans on advertising on radio, on television, even at major sporting events - it is the crusade to stamp out cigarette smoking.

Cigarettes are painted in the public eye as the root cause of many of society's ills, and the prime cause of lung cancer. Still, there are discussions about what causes lung cancer.

While tobacco products (and marijuana) and any kind of smoke inhalation are known to cause lung cancer, they're not the only triggering factors, even if they are critical to lung cancer prevention. Genetics also plays a key role; there's about a 60% greater chance that you'll develop lung cancer if your family members have also gone through the ordeal.

There are some things you can do to be proactive about lung cancer prevention if you're worried about developing lung cancer. Especially because what causes lung cancer is generally well known - it's inhalation of carcinogens (the most common of which are in tobacco and open flames). Knowing how to prevent lung cancer is simple, but difficult.

The first step is to give up smoking; even a cigarette a day adds to your risk. People’s lungs really do heal. People who've quit smoking for ten years or more have the same lung cancer rates as non-smokers.

It is never too late to quit smoking and it's never too late to get in the habit of avoiding second hand smoke. Smoking is the 'smoking gun' on what causes lung cancer - smokers are 90% likelier to develop the disease.

Other risk factors for lung cancer include environmental triggers. A lot of these factors have been reduced or eliminated due to anti-pollution and workplace safety laws.

For example, open air nuclear weapons testing resulted in a 7,000% increase in lung cancer rates among people who were downwind of the fallout patterns. We hope that such testing will never be allowed again. Indeed, nuclear fallout is an even better answer for 'what causes lung cancer' than smoking is.

Your odds of getting emphysema or lung cancer are much higher if you were ever exposed to raw asbestos. It was used as a fire retardant insulation. Likewise, heavy metals like nickel and cadmium (which are common paint pigments) can increase your risk of lung cancer.

Finally, another factor that may trigger lung cancer is air quality. If you live in a city with poor air quality:

• lots of ozone,
• smoke from nearby fires,
• or other airborne pollutants

Your chances of getting lung cancer go up. Lung cancer prevention really is an important consideration to get you to move to a better air quality city.

This web site is dedicated to helping people recover from lung cancer. It's also for those people who are family members of lung cancer patients, and the prevention information is to help them avoid developing the disease themselves, and to protect their family members from risk factors down the road.
Other things within your power are to get regular screenings for cancer if you have

• been exposed to a risk factor mentioned above
• have a family member who's a lung cancer patient.

These screenings have gotten significantly better. One of the reasons why lung cancer is so dangerous is because its symptoms are easy to misread until it's gotten very advanced.

But the 10 year survival rate for people who get it detected and treated early is 92% and growing- that is really very very good.

The standard doctor's advice also applies - eat right, exercise in moderation, and walk as much as you can each day; keep your weight down to reasonable levels and focus hard on things that keep your work and home life in balance.

Related Pages

How to prevent lung cancer-Knowing how to prevent lung cancer is extremely important to prevent the pain and struggle of developing lung cancer.



Back to top