Symptoms of lung cancer
Lung cancer is one of the most deadly diseases in the world. It kills over one million people a year world wids and affects millions of families. The disease is painful and often is caught too late to do anything. If caught after tumors have significantly developed, the recovery rate for lung cancer is amazingly slow. It is amazing to think that this terrible killer could be avoided if people would simply stop smoking. Something like eighty percent of lung cancer cases can be traced to smoking or exposure to second hand smoke. There are other causes but most of them could be avoided with a little education and some good habits. One of the most problematic things about the disease is that it is extremely hard to detect. There is no general screening process for lung cancer unlike prostate or cervical cancer. Usually it is only when the symptoms have become quite severe that a person goes to a doctor and is diagnosed with lung cancer. The symptoms of lung cancer are many, but it is important that you learn what they are so that you can spot them quickly. This is especially the case if you or your loved one is at a high risk for lung cancer.
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The primary symptoms to look for are things you might expect from a lung disease. These are things like chest pain, constant unexplained coughing, coughing up blood, and shortness of breath. Wheezing or any kind of sense of blockage of the lungs can also signal cancer. Also watch for recuring pnuemonia and bronchitis or other respiratory infections. Fatigue, weightloss, and low sodium levels are another common sign of an onset of lung cancer. If you have experienced any of these symptoms, and expecially for a long period of time you should immediately see a doctor and get examined.
A few things that you should also look for are the appearance of a new cough in a smoker or someone who has quit smoking. Usually the chest pain that is caused by lung cancer is dull and lasting.
If the cancer has spread to other parts of the body there can be several other symptoms. If the cancer has spread to the bones you can expect bone pain occuring usually in the backbone, thighbones, and the ribs. If the cancer has spread to the braine expect nuerological problems such as difficulty seeing or seizures.
Because lung cancer can spread to other parts of the body symptoms might vary but if you see any of the basic symptoms occuring you should get to a doctor quickly. Don't wait to receive treatment or an examination. A basic trip to the doctor could only take about an hour. Waiting to go because it is inconvenient might mean that you loose your life or that the life of a loved one is lost.
Although discussing symptoms is important so that the disease can be detected and treated succesfully, perhaps the most important topic of discussion regarding lung cancer is prevention. This disease could largely be eliminated if people would stop smoking or avoid some of the other basic causes. We can develop sophisticated treatment techniques, but given the difficulty of actually discovering the disease early, it would be better to simply avoid it all together. You should not, in other words, rely on medical science to save you from lung cancer. Take responsibility and realize that you can control most of the circumstances that lead to lung cancer. Together we can help to stop this terrible disease.
