Not All Smokers Suffer Lung Cancer!!

Do you know that breast cancer is the most common cancer in the world? Yes, I am taking you through simple current affairs in medicine. But while it is the most common type of cancer, it is not the most deadly. That titles goes to lung cancer as it is the cancer with the highest mortality rate.

People usually attributes smoking to lung cancer and this is no lie but over the years, there have been a resuction in the number if people who smokes the number of people who still dies from cancer is huge and this has been attributed to people who don’t smoke. While the number of people who smoke is reducing, the cases of lung cancer associated with the act has also reduced but the number of cases in people who do not smoke is increasing.

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Since the 1950s, lung cancer and smoking have been partners but people still took it a lot and that was because it only increases the risk of getting lubg cancer, it doesn’t cause lung cancer. So not everyone who smokes get lung cancer and not everyone who has lung cancer has smoked in the past.

Depending on geography, the number of people who do not smoke vary with increasing numbers in Asian population and women. About 14% and 16% of men and women respectively in the US who have lung cancer do not smoke but this number vary in different part of the world but increases in Asia.

The answer to why there is increase in that population is yet to be known, but researchers believe that it is has do with a few things like life style habit and culture such as cooking. It has been seen that women on average cook two times more than men except in Italy were men cook 0.4 more times than women. When we cook, a lot of things can increase the risk of cancer such as the fumes from oil and wood.

Increaae in lung cancer associated with women has been noticed in region where the women cook over open flames and heat. Researchers have also been able to come to a conclusion based on a research in Hong Kong that the higher the number of food a woman cook, the more likely tgey have to get lung cancer. Higher working temperature also increases the risk of lung cancer.

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Lung cancer risk can be environmental and genetics and in the genetic aspect, a mutation in the gene EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor) significantly increase the risk of developing lung cancer which leads to uncontrolled growth which then becomes cancer. People with this mutation have a 55% chance of having cancer before the age of 60.

Over 50% of people with lung cancer who haven’t smoked suffer from Adenocarcinoma with lung cancers in the outer cells of the lung. This could be from second hand smoke, asbestos, and EGFR. While for people who smoke and have lung cancer, the cause is usually smoking. Radon gad also causes lung cancer and it is a high risk factor ad second to cigarette.

Staying away from areas with radon gases or asbestos are is important, also staying away from open flame and extremely hot environment can save you from lung cancer. Health is important once life is still available and one way to stay safe from lung cancer is to talk about it so people can be aware just like I just did.

Not All Smokers Suffer Lung Cancer!!

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