Lung Cancer Awareness Month in Full Effect Page Kelley used to be a recreational pipe smoker. Although he quit smoking 10 years ago, the damage had already been caused. After acquiring a bad cough, Kelley got checked out and discovered that he had advanced lung cancer. Nine months after this detection, the cancer took away his life. Kelley’s granddaughter, Virginia Tech junior Lauren Kelley, realizes the pain this deadly disease can produce. “It was hard to watch the disease transform my grandfather from a healthy active man to a very sickly and dependent person,” she said. November was Lung Cancer Awareness Month. A national organization called the Lung Cancer Alliance is working hard to promote awareness throughout the country. According to the organization’s Web site, http://www.alcase.org, the Lung Cancer Alliance “is the only national non-profit organization dedicated solely to patient support and advocacy for people living with lung cancer and those at risk for the disease.” Different ways to participate in Lung Cancer Awareness Month include pursuing proclamation for awareness from your governor, sponsoring an event, distributing materials and being heard by the media. According to the Lung Caner Alliance, volunteers are currently pursuing proclamation of this month in Virginia in order to spread awareness. Once there is proclamation, leaders will be able to create settlement funds and fund proposals. An event to raise money for this deadly disease that has been held in Virginia is the Race for Breath. It takes place each year in Virginia Beach, Va. Participants walk or run along the oceanfront and have raised over $130,000 in the past two years for research and treatment. This year’s third annual race was held this past Saturday, Nov. 4. Over 800 people of all ages, as well as survivors, participated to help raise money. Janah Miller, a Virginia Tech senior and member of the Health Promotions Team, helps get awareness out on the Virginia Tech campus about the risks of smoking. She and other members of this team sit outside of McComas and on the Drillfield to ask students about their personal experiences with smoking. “One of our goals is get people to understand the danger of Hookah smoking. It’s more dangerous than cigarettes. People don’t realize this because it is flavored, but it has more nicotine and other chemicals that are harmful,” said Miller. Miller hands out information about resources on campus that are available to help people stop smoking. Because smoking is the main cause of lung cancer, she hopes this will decrease the number of those being diagnosed in the future. Awareness is important because few people realize how deadly lung cancer is. According to the Lung Cancer Alliance, it kills more people than breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, liver cancer, kidney cancer and melanoma combined. Lung cancer is the most deadly cancer in the world and occurs when there are malignant tumors inside the lungs. Wikipedia.com predicts that in the next five years only one out of 10 people diagnosed with the cancer will survive. According to the Lung Cancer Alliance’s Web site, there will be 4,840 new cases of lung cancer in Virginia. Of these cases, 4,510 of these men and women will die. Lung cancer is generally diagnosed in patients around 70-years-old, and is usually in the advanced stage when detected. Wikipedia.com lists the different symptoms caused by lung cancer which include shortness of breath, chronic cough, wheezing, chest pain, weight loss, hoarse voice, and difficulty swallowing. Most of the time the cancer has spread even before symptoms are felt. The Web site About.com advises that cancer can occur in anyone, regardless of smoking habits. Although around 50 percent of those with the cancer are former or current smokers, many that are diagnosed have never even smoked. There are many different ways to treat lung cancer. According to Wikipedia.com, different treatments include radiotherapy, surgery, and chemotherapy. The type of treatment used depends on the cancer stage and tissue type. Sarah, a Virginia Tech junior who wished not to reveal her last name, smokes about five cigarettes a day. She began smoking during her freshman year of college. When asked if she felt well informed about lung cancer, she said, “Yeah, I do. Cigarette packs have information and a little book inside them with information about the risks of smoking and about how you can quit.” After hearing the death rate statistics of those diagnosed with lung cancer, Sarah said, “The thought of lung cancer does scare me. When I started smoking I never thought I’d become addicted. I know its bad and I’ve tried to quit, but it doesn’t really work.” The Lung Cancer Alliance said that a myth about lung cancer is that once you quit smoking, in 10 years your lungs will go back to normal. The reality of this is that your lungs will never go back to normal. This means that anyone who has smoked or has been around secondhand smoke for extended periods of time has an increased risk of developing this cancer. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), in 2005 lung cancer research received only $2.1 million, while breast cancer and cervical cancer received $204 million. While most cancer survival rates have gone up, unfortunately lung cancer’s survival rate is nearly just as low as it was in the 1970s. To find out more about lung cancer or how to get involved with awareness, visit the Lung Cancer Alliance’s Web site at http://www.alcase.org. |