Lung Cancer Risk Factors for Non-Smokers

Through today's media, countless commercials warn of the dangers of tobacco use and its link to devastating health consequences, the most known being lung cancer. In fact, the most effective method of lung cancer prevention is to stay away from tobacco. However, science shows that smoking, though the most common cause of lung cancer, is not the only risk factor you need to know about.

Pathophysiology

• Cancer is caused by gene mutations within a cell that cause it to divide at an uncontrolled rate, resulting in tumors. The human body is stocked with tumor-suppressors, either hormones or components of the immune system, that are specialized to seek out mutated cells and destroy them before they develop into tumors. When these protective systems fail, the mutated cells grow at a deadly rate.

  Lung cancer is classified into three main types: adenocarcinomas, large cell carcinomas and non-small cell carcinomas. Non-small cell carcinomas are the most common type of lung cancer, comprising nearly a quarter of all cases.

Signs and Symptoms

• Signs and symptoms of lung cancer include a never-ending cough with bloody sputum, difficulty swallowing, frequent respiratory tract infections (pneumonia), hoarseness, difficulty breathing and pain in the shoulders, back or chest. Pain can occur in other locations as well, if the lung cancer has metastasized to other locations such as the brain, bone, liver and bone marrow.

Risk Factors

• Smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke are the leading causes of lung cancer, but there are other environmental risk factors that come into play in its development, including exposure to radon and other pollutants in the air.

  Inorganic Phosphate (Pi), a component of foods, has been shown to increase the incidence of lung cancer. Pi is found naturally in several foods and drinks (chocolate, vegetables, eggs, wheat products, corn, soy and cow's milk), but is also added to other foods (processed meats, sodas, baked goods, soft cheeses, ice cream, ketchup, mayonnaise, candy, frozen foods) to manipulate the food's texture and water retention capabilities. Pi has been shown to feed tumor growth and lower the body's level of tumor suppressors that keep mutated cells at bay.

  Illness can also precipitate the development of cancer. Tuberculosis, and diseases similar to it, cause damage to the tissues in the lungs. Whenever tissue is destroyed and new cells are required to fill in the damage, there is a high potential for genetic mutations.

  One red flag that has been raised in several case studies of lung cancer clients is a previous history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. COPD is a collection of conditions that impair a person's ability to breathe, such as emphysema and chronic asthma. One study showed that 75 percent of male subjects with lung cancer had a history of COPD, and 50 percent of women diagnosed also had significant history of COPD.

Men Vs. Women

• Scientists have long wondered if a client's sex has any relation to the development of lung cancer, and the results are surprising. Women in the United States are developing lung cancer at a rate higher than their male counterparts. However, evidence is showing that men are dying at twice the rate from the disease.

  There is new evidence showing that a commonly performed cancer preventative measure is actually a risk factor for lung cancer. A bilateral oopherectomy is a procedure in which both ovaries are removed (usually during a complete hysterectomy) to help eliminate the risk of estrogen-fed cancers such as breast cancer, uterine cancer or other gynecological growths. Hormones produced and secreted by the ovaries are essential to a woman's health as she ages, and the effects of the removal of these organs have been studied. In one study of several post-hysterectomy women, those who had both ovaries removed had a 26 percent higher risk of developing lung cancer and a 31 percent higher mortality risk than the woman who left their ovaries intact.

Conclusion

• Lung cancer is a devastating condition that affects men, women, families and friends worldwide. It is caused both by factors that can be controlled, like food additives, and factors that cannot, like genetics and family history. Individuals can make the decision to avoid tobacco at all costs, but there will always be other factors that increase their risk.