For people above the age of 55, lung cancer is the leading cause of death. It’s the second most common form of cancer when skin cancer is removed from the equation and it accounts for 14% of the total cancers that are diagnosed every year around the world. In total, more than 200,000 people are going to receive this diagnosis in the United States alone, which is also about the amount of people who will be dying from it.
1. It’s Not For the Young
About two-thirds of the people who are diagnosed with lung cancer will be above the age of 65. It’s rarely found in people under the age of 45, accounting for just 2% of the total cancers that are diagnosed of the lung. If you want to prevent lung cancer, then if you’re smoking, make sure that you find a way to stop.
2. Who Gets It?
African American men have a 40% greater chance of developing lung cancer than white men. For women, however, the rates of lung cancer for women of different races are statistically equal to each other. The rates of lung cancer have been dropping for men, however, for many years. Men are still slightly more likely, however to get lung cancer than women.
3. You Don’t Have To Smoke
Although lung cancer is directly associated with smoking, you don’t have to be a smoker to get this disease. That’s why it is one of the leading killers of people. It kills more people more than the next three cancers combined.
4. It’s Got a Low Survival Rate
The long-term prognosis of lung cancer is not good. The survival rates of this disease is just 17% and more than 300,000 people in the United States are living with it right now. More than half of the people who receive a diagnosis of lung cancer this year are going to end up dying from it within the next 12 months.
5. Find It Early
Unfortunately one of the biggest factors in lung cancer is that it is rarely caught early. Only 15% of these cancers are found at early stages and it is often by accident because other injuries are issues are being investigated. As soon as lung cancer spreads to other organs, the survival rate drops down to a very small 3.5% of people.
6. It’s the Cigarettes
Although people who have never smoked once in their lives can end up developing lung cancer, 90% of the cases of lung cancer are attributed to this habit. That’s why stopping now is so important. It can take up to 20 years to reduce your risks of lung cancer back to that of a non-smoker.
7. It’s Not Just the Smoke
A special type of lung cancer is directly associated with asbestos. Mesothelioma is directly linked to exposure to asbestos, but it can take up to 50 years for the cancer to develop in the human body. It usually needs a long-term exposure to develop, but even one exposure for a brief amount of time can be all that it takes.