Lung Cancer- What Are The Symptoms?

Lung cancer causes more deaths in the United States than any other forms of cancers like prostrate, colorectal cancer and breast. Every year since 1987 lung cancer causes more deaths than breast cancer in women. Nowadays, women account for half of all the new cases of lung cancer. Lung cancer deaths increased 150% in women between the period of 1974 and 1994. Men experienced only a 20% increase in the lung cancer related deaths.

Why Is Lung Cancer Affecting So Many Women?

Several studies indicate that women are 1.5 times more likely to get lung cancer than men. Women are more prone to lung cancer, even when they smoke less cigarettes and inhale less of the cigarette smoke. Some scientists believe that the difference is genetically linked. Although further research is still needed.

Symptoms Of Lung Cancer

The symptoms of lung cancer can take several years to develop. This often leads to diagnosis of the lung cancer at an advanced stage. Some of the symptoms include:

• Persistant shoulder, chest or back pain
• Wheezing
• Smoker’s cough
• Increase in sputum
• Repeated events of bronchitis or pneumonia
• Nonsmoker’s cough that persists for more than two weeks
• Blood in sputum
• Change in sputum’s color

Some other symptoms of late-stage of cancer are:

• Loss of appetite
• Fatigue
• Bone pain, aching joints, headache
• Neurologic symptoms, such as episodic memory loss or/and unsteady gait
• Facial and neck swelling
• Sudden weight loss
• Bone fractures (not related to accidental injury

The spread of lung cancer to other parts of the body may cause symptoms like weakness, pain, headaches, bleeding, bone fractures or blood clots.

Consult a physician immediately if you or someone you know experiences any of these symptoms or signs of lung cancer. Early detection can increase the survival rate for patients whose cancer is found while it is still localized by 50%.

Various screening tools such as PET scans and CT scans can help in detecting lung cancer at an earlier stage than conventional X-rays. It increases your chance of survival.