Lung cancer is caused mainly because of smoking. However, many people who do not smoke may also get caught with it, medications and lifestyle changes may help a lot in dealing with it.
Life is dependent upon breathing and breathing is dependent upon our lungs. If our lungs get damaged our life may be at stake. Several lung problems may cause people to face difficulty in breathing; however, the worst situation arises because of lung cancer. There were times when previously lung cancer was not so common but now it is spreading among people of all age groups like a wildfire.
How is Lung Cancer Caused? (i)
Lung cancer is caused because of damage that happens to the lungs. This is mainly because of smoking. People who smoke or are surrounded by smokers are at a higher risk of developing this kind of cancer. Lung cancer causes breathing issues and even may lead to death. Apart from it, if a person is exposed to harmful gases, inhaling the fumes may also be the main reason that ended up causing lung cancer. The inflammation caused by these fumes or smoke tends to damage the tissues and cells of the lungs causing cancer to develop with time.
Identification of Lung Cancer
Not all breathing problems are lung cancer; they could be other diseases too. However, specifically identifying lung cancer requires you to know about the lung cancer signs and symptoms a few of which may include the following:
- Continuous cough that you had never before.
- Pain in chest
- Coughing with blood
- Feeling shortened of breathing repeatedly with no excessive activity
- Loss of weight
- Continuous headaches and feeling fatigue
- Pain in other bones
- Issues with sleeping due to cough
Treatment of Lung Cancer
Cancers are usually treated in the same way with extensive procedures done at the hospitals, similarly when it comes to treating lung cancer a few options comprise of:
- Removal of the damaged part of the lung with the surgery, this way the part that has developed the cancer cells in the lungs is removed to avoid letting it spread on other areas.
- Radiation therapy helps in getting rid of the cancer cells.
- Chemotherapy is also commonly used for patients with lung cancer to help them get rid of this condition.
Changes in Lifestyle to Deal with Lung Cancer (ii)
Lung cancer brings about massive stress for the patient and everyone wishes to get rid of it as soon as possible, hence apart from getting lung cancer treatments many people also work on improving their lifestyle. Certain lifestyle changes may be of much help when it comes to treating lung cancer or you may say reducing its impact on your day-to-day activities.
Quitting to Smoke
As we know that smoking is the prime reason that causes lung cancer to initiate at first, so the most important thing to deal with it requires quitting smoking. If you will continue smoking despite a cancer diagnosis, you are only making your lung condition worse. There is no way out apart from totally stopping to smoke to reduce the inflammation.
Taking Important Therapies
Suffering from lung cancer is never a piece of cake and certain supportive therapies may be of great help when it comes to dealing with this kind of condition. You may choose to get yourself oxygen therapy, certain routine yoga therapies, speech therapy, and much more. These help to deal with the obvious symptoms that are associated with lung cancer.
Avoiding Infections
When you are already suffering from a disease like lung cancer, your immune system has already been compromised. To keep your body move with no further damages you should work hard to reduce the risk of infections. Since your immune system is already very weak, there are chances that you may very quickly develop infections. Therefore, keep away from people suffering from viral infections, keep your hands and surroundings clean at all times and also make sure to disinfect your house now and then so that traces of bacteria or viruses may hit your immune system.
Changes in Diet
Developing a healthy diet is always crucial to a healthy body, one thing that you must always be sure of is the fact that there are certain food items like dairy products that tend to give rise to cancer cells, and hence these must be avoided. On the other hand, you should bring about a healthy change in your diet, which means you should be willing to add fruits, vegetables, nuts, and nutritious food items to your diet so that you may always have a healthy body capable of fighting this life-threatening disease.
Prevention of Lung Cancer
It is always better to use all kinds of preventive measures that keep you away from lung cancer, there are numerous things that you may do to stay away from this condition and a few of these may comprise of the following:
- The first and foremost is smoking. If you do not smoke, you are on the right track and make sure to never indulge in this habit, however, if you do try to reduce and eventually eliminate the habit from your routine.
- If you are working in an environment where chemical fumes are released keep yourself packed and masked up at all times, wash hands frequently and change clothes before going home.
- Make sure there are no traces of radon in your surroundings especially at home, keep a check on it.
- Try to incorporate a healthy and balanced diet rich in nutrients like fruits and vegetables so that you may always avoid different diseases.
- Keep yourself active and try to have an exercise routine this will help you have better health and all the toxins from your body will release.
Lung cancer amounts to be very threatening condition and should be avoided at all costs by taking preventive measures. However, timely checkups must be made after crossing a certain age especially if you have a history of smoking so that any traces of it are identified on time.
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lung-cancer/symptoms-causes/syc-20374620
- https://www.winchesterhospital.org/health-library/article?id=19766