What are the risk factors for lung cancer?
Research has identified a number of risk factors that may increase the risk of developing lung cancer.
1 . Smoke
Tobacco smoke is a mixture of toxic compounds of more than 7,000 chemicals. Many of them contain deadly poisonous chemicals. At least 70 of those toxins are known to cause cancer in humans or animals.
Cigarette smoking is one of the leading risk factors for lung cancer. In the United States, cigarette smoking accounts for 80% to 90% of lung cancer deaths. The use of other tobacco products such as cigars or pipes also increases the risk of lung cancer.
Cigarette smokers are 15 to 30 times more likely to die of lung cancer than non-smokers. Smoking or occasionally smoking a few cigarettes a day also increases the risk of lung cancer. The more years a person smokes, and the more cigarettes they smoke each day, the greater the risk.
People who quit smoking have a lower risk of lung cancer than those who continue to smoke. But their risk is higher than non-smokers. Stopping smoking at any age can reduce the risk of lung cancer.
Cigarette smoking can cause cancer anywhere in the body. Cigarette smoking causes cancer of the mouth and throat, esophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, liver, pancreas, larynx, trachea, kidneys and pelvis (central part of the kidney), bladder, and cervix and can cause severe myeloma.
2. Second stage (SECOND WAY) smoking
Inhaling smoke from other people's cigarettes, pipes, or cigars (secondhand smoke) can cause lung cancer in the opposite person. When a person inhales second smoke, it causes the same effects as when he smokes. In the United States, one in four non-smokers, including 14 million children, was exposed to second-way smoke from 2013 to 2014.
3. Radon
Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States after smoking. Radon is a gas naturally emitted by the decomposition of certain radioactive metals. It is formed in rocks, soil, and water. It cannot be seen, tasted, or smelled. When radon enters homes or buildings through cracks or holes, it can get trapped and exposed to air inside the home.
People who live or work in these homes and buildings breathe high levels of radon. In the long run, radon can cause lung cancer.
Radon is a radioactive gas that is formed naturally when radioactive metals such as uranium, thorium, or radium decompose in rocks, soil, and groundwater. People breathe radon into the air coming through cracks and gaps in buildings and houses to control primary radon respiration.
The U.S. estimates that radon causes about 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year. Evaluated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The risk of lung cancer due to radon exposure is higher in smokers than in non-smokers.
However, the EPA estimates that more than 10% of radon-related lung cancer deaths occur among non-cigarette smokers. About one in every 15 households in the United States has a high radon level (1/15). Learn how to test radon in your home and how to reduce radon levels if it is high.
What are the symptoms of radon in your home?
1. A persistent cough may be a sign that you have radon poisoning.
2. Continuous cough.
3. Voice obstruction
4. Breathing.
5. Blood in the cough.
6. Chest pain.
7. Frequent 8. Infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia.
9. Anorexia.
4. Other Products factors
Examples of materials found in some workplaces that increase risk include asbestos, arsenic, diesel emissions, and silica and chromium. In many of these products, smokers have an even higher risk of developing lung cancer.
5. Personal or hereditary background of lung cancer
If you are a survivor of lung cancer, there is a risk of developing another lung cancer if you smoke. The risk of lung cancer may be higher if your parents, brothers or sisters, or children have lung cancer. This may be true, because if they also smoke or work or live in the same place where radon and other substances that can cause lung cancer are exposed.
6. Radiation Therapy to the Chest
Survivors of breast cancer treatment may have a higher risk of lung cancer.
7. Diet
Scientists are studying different foods and diets to alter the risk of developing lung cancer. We still have a lot to know.
We know that smokers increase their risk of lung cancer when they take beta carotene supplements.
Furthermore, arsenic and radon in drinking water (mainly from private wells) may increase the risk of lung cancer.
