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COPD AND LUNG CANCER
reasons
IF YOU’VE SMOKED
a cigarette
recently, you might think that the health
risks of smoking won’t affect you until
much later in life—and that they may not
be serious.
But, in reality, every time you light up,
you are putting yourself at risk for two
deadly diseases: lung cancer and chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
“Tobacco use remains the single largest
preventable cause of disease and prema-
ture death in this country alone, yet more
than 46 million Americans still smoke,”
says Kay Walters, respiratory care director
at Jackson Hospital. “However, more than
half of these smokers have attempted to
quit for at least one day in the past year.”
Treatments can help relieve symptoms
and slow the progress of both lung cancer
and COPD. But the single best way to
help your lungs, both now and for years to
come, is to join the ranks of ex-smokers.
It’s never too late to quit—no matter how
long you’ve been smoking.
Two diseases, one main cause
Lung cancer begins when cells in the
lungs start to develop abnormally and
then multiply and clump together into a
tumor.
COPD is the umbrella term for the dis-
eases emphysema and chronic bronchitis,
which often develop together. With em-
physema, the lung’s air sacs are damaged,
causing shortness of breath. That means
less and less oxygen is transferred into the
bloodstream, depleting nourishment to
the body and its organs. Chronic bronchi-
tis inflames and scars the lungs and the
lining of the airways, also affecting the
ability of the person to take in—and let
out—a breath.
Although there are other causes for
COPD and lung cancer, smoking is by far
the main culprit. It’s linked to about 87
percent of lung cancer deaths and up to
90 percent of COPD deaths, according to
the American Lung Association.
In addition:
•
Lung cancer is the leading cause of
cancer death in both men and women
in the U.S. It causes more deaths than
the next three most common cancers
(colon, breast and prostate) combined.
•
Lung cancer often isn’t detected until
it’s in an advanced stage. Over half of
people with lung cancer die within a
year after their diagnosis.
•
COPD is the third leading cause of
death in the U.S.
•
COPD’s symptoms—wheezing, tight-
ness in the chest, shortness of breath, a
nagging cough that produces mucus—
are often ignored by people with the
disease for years. However, treatments
can help improve a person’s quality of
life once COPD is diagnosed, so make
an appointment with your doctor if
you have the symptoms.
Choose a strategy
If you smoke, you need to try hard to quit.
Your doctor is a good source of informa-
tion about tools that can help, including
prescription and over-the-counter medi-
cines and smoking cessation programs.
to quit smoking
Y O U R W I N T E R
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