This was a paper that I had to write for a PE class on lung cancer. Because it was a PE class, I used Wikipedia, which is generally a no-no for college papers. This is an original work, and it is my preference that it does not get reused. However, I do acknowledge that because I am posting it on the Internet, it's kind of fair game. If that is the case, please be aware that if your teacher uses Turnitin or any other plagiarism checking program, this will show up (blogs are included in the searches). I'm happy to help, so if you need citations, please message me. Cancer, in general, is one of the leading causes of death in the world. However, asides from genetic considerations, it is also one of the most preventable diseases as well. Lung cancer, specifically, is often correlated to self-induced causes. Long-term exposure to tobacco smoke is the cause of 80-90% of lung cancers. The remainder of the percentage attributed to lung cancer is caused by second-hand smoke, asbestos, air pollution, genetics, and radon gas. Oftentimes, people associate lung cancer to smokers and have difficulty believing that a nonsmoker is able to get lung cancer. Because of the growing use of tobacco products worldwide, lung cancer is responsible for the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in men and women, taking 1.38 million deaths annually, since 2008. Lung cancer is characterized by the irrepressible growth of cells in lung tissue. If left untreated, the growth can spread beyond the lung through metastasis, a process that spreads the cancerous growth to other organs in the body. Common treatments include chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation. Survival of lung cancer is among the lowest of all cancers. In the United States, 15% of people diagnosed with lung cancer survive five years after diagnosis. While smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, there are other determinants to consider. It is estimated that 8-14% of lung cancer is due to genetic factors. Asbestos exposure along with tobacco smoke has a synergistic effect that leads to lung cancer. Radon gas, which is the byproduct of the breakdown of radium (which, in turn, is a decay product of uranium), ionizes genetic material, causing mutations that sometimes turn cancerous. Radon is the second most common cause of lung cancer after smoking. While not a major factor, indoor and outdoor air pollution, including, but not limited, to traffic emissions and burning of wood and charcoal, is slowly increasing as a cause of lung cancer. Another important thing to consider as a cause of lung cancer is poor lifestyle habits (smoking included). If one does not eat healthfully, exercise regularly, and maintain a healthy weight, that person is prone to getting cancer. Being obese increases the risk of cancer-related illness (not lung cancer specifically) by 50%. According to MD Anderson researchers, “Cancer is a preventable disease that requires major lifestyle changes.... Genes are absolutely not our fate.” Symptoms and signs include: shortness of breath, coughing, coughing up blood, weight loss, fatigue, nail clubbing, chest pain, bone pain, and difficulty swallowing, among others. As a smoker, I chose this topic to scare myself into quitting. Starting smoking is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, regrets of my life. Before I had a child, it wasn’t something that was a major concern to me. After my daughter was born, my father developed lung cancer. He had always been a heavy smoker while I was growing up, but he ended up quitting for twenty years. Something made him start again, and within a year, he was diagnosed with lung cancer, a disease that ultimately took his life. I regret that he is not around to know his wonderful granddaughter. Knowing that lung cancer is predominantly preventable makes one reevaluate how much their mortality is truly in their own hands. It makes me seriously think about whether or not I want to put myself more in the position where I have to fight for air. Grade I Received: 100 (A)
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