Lung Cancer: Types, Stages, Symptoms, Diagnosis

6 Ways To Reduce Your Risk Of Lung Cancer

The importance of the lungs in your body cannot be overlooked. They are some of the most vital organs within your body, helping you breathe and stay alive. Healthy lungs are a sign of a healthy life.

However, the safety of your lungs can go for a toss if you encounter serious issues like lung cancer. If not diagnosed and treated on time, lung cancer can have serious life-threatening implications. It is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths worldwide, making it even more important to lead a healthy life. Most causes of lung cancer can be traced to unhealthy lifestyles. Make sure you understand how serious the issue is and take the right preventive measures to stay away from diseases like lung cancer.

Before discussing the different ways in which you can evade the risk of lung cancer, let us briefly understand the health complication.

What Is Lung Cancer? How To Identify The Issue?

Lung cancer is cancer developing in your lung tissues. Here, cancerous tumor starts developing in the air passages and cells lining your lungs. If not cured, it may spread to other parts of your body and increase life-threatening implications.

It is important to identify the symptoms of lung cancer before things get worse to get yourself diagnosed on time. Here are a few major symptoms that should prompt you to seek medical help:

• A persistent cough

• Blood in cough

• Chest pain

• Shortness of breath

• Unexplained weight loss

• Headache and/or bone pain

• A hoarse voice

• Wheezing while breathing

It is possible for patients to pass most of these symptoms off as trivial. However, if they linger for several days without showing any signs of improvement, make sure you reach out to your doctor and get yourself diagnosed with lung cancer.

How Should You Reduce The Risk Of Lung Cancer?

If you do not want to go through the pain and discomfort of getting treated for lung cancer, make sure you take preventive measures well in advance. Not giving cancer a chance to form within your lungs is the best way to prevent issues like these. For this, it is important to lead a healthy and cautious lifestyle. Make sure you get rid of unhealthy habits and normalize regular checkups to tackle issues like lung cancer.

Here are six of the most important ways in which you can reduce the risk of lung cancer:

1. Stay Away From Smoking

Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer across the globe. Regular smokers are always at a higher risk of developing lung cancer than non-smokers. Make sure you quit smoking if you want to stay away from lung cancer and several other lung diseases.

Smoking tobacco damages the cells lining your lungs, making it easier for tumors to develop. Unless you stop smoking altogether, the conditions within your body will lead to the formation and spread of cancerous tumors. Being full of carcinogens, tobacco smoke is capable of causing massive damage to your lung cells. While your body is capable of tackling the issue up to a point, it will get out of control if you do not stop smoking.

If you are a non-smoker, do not develop the habit if you want to keep your lungs healthy and clean. If you are struggling to quit smoking, reach out to the right professionals who will help you quit.

2. Look For Radon Gas In Your House

Radon is a harmful carcinogen that can lead to health complications like lung cancer. Radon gas is radioactive in nature. As you cannot see or smell it, it becomes difficult to identify if your house is contaminated with the same. After smoking, radon gas is the most common cause of lung cancer.

Radon gas is released when the uranium in rocks and soil breaks down. This gas can seep into your house via wall cracks, airways, and other inlets. Radon gas buildup in your house can prove to be very dangerous if you do not tend to it on time.

It is advisable to get your home checked for radon at regular intervals. Get in touch with specialists who can help you clean your house from gas and help you keep your lungs healthy.

3. Avoid Passive Smoking

Passive or secondhand smoking is just as harmful to your lungs as direct cigarette smoking. If you are standing close to a smoker or in a public place where multiple people around you have been smoking, it is bound to affect your lungs.

It doesn’t matter how cigarette smoke enters your lungs. Once it finds its way in, it is bound to cause lung damage. Make sure you stay away from people smoking and remain at a safe distance at all times. If you are a non-smoker, the last thing you’d want is to get lung cancer from cigarette smoke.

4. Know Your Family History

If your immediate family member has suffered from lung cancer, you are at a greater risk of having the disease than others. This is because of the genetic and environmental factors that play a role in an individual getting diagnosed with lung cancer.

When you go for a checkup or diagnosis, make sure you inform the doctor about your family’s medical history.

5. Avoid Exposure To Hazardous Chemicals

Here are some of the most hazardous chemicals you should stay away from as they contain carcinogens that damage your lungs:

  • Soot
  • Arsenic
  • Asbestos
  • Silica
  • Nickel
  • Diesel Exhaust
  • Cadmium

6. Go For Regular Checkups

Finally, make sure you go for regular health checkups to ensure your body is healthy. You do not need to wait for things to get worse to get a full body checkup. These health checks help you identify what is wrong with your body early on and prompt you to take the right preventive measures.

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