Lung cancer has been found to be the leading cause of death from cancerous tissue. In the United States alone, 159, 390 people died of lung cancer (in the year 2009). The general life expectancy after diagnosis is weighed against a scale of five years (generally). In most cases, people don't make it to five years.
Cancerous tissue is a collection of cells in which the ability to multiply is altered by the effects of external agents and these specific cells start to multiply out of control. The multiplying cells and the cells produced as a result of this cancerous division do not retain their function or their specific space in the human body. These cells just take up nutrition and space from the healthy tissue around them and develop into tumors and solid masses.
Cancer of the Lung
The development of cancerous tissue in the lungs is generally referred to as lung cancer. Cells multiplying and dividing themselves into cells that do not perform any function and just take up space, leaves the lungs with masses of these useless cells, or cancerous tissue to be specific. This cancer tissue impairs the overall function of the organ (lungs).
After and during the development of this tissue in the lungs, these cancerous cells may spread to other organs though the blood and this condition is referred to as metastasis. Metastasis leaves the body with tumors and cancerous tissue almost in every part of the body, which spreads slowly, hence destroying organs in a slow and highly progressive manner.
Causes of Lung Cancer
The most important and the very first, yet the highly ignored cause of cancer, is cigarette smoking or just smoking in general. Researchers long ago found this to be a major reason for lung cancer and have presented solid reasons for establishing the connection between smoking cigarettes and lung cancer.
More than 4000 chemicals are found in cigarette smoke, most of which have been identified as carcinogenic in nature. A person who smokes tobacco or cigarettes has a greater chance of developing lung cancer in comparison to people who don't smoke at all. Smoking cigars and all other types of smoking (such as pipes) also increases the chance of development of lung cancer.
Ninety percent of lung cancer cases are diagnosed as a result of the involvement of tobacco smoking and the figure also includes the patients who have developed lung cancer as a result of passive smoking. Other causes which constitute about 10% of the total causes of lung cancer include:
- air pollution from motor vehicles, heavy machinery, factories
- exposure to asbestos
- exposure to radon
- exposure to arsenic, hydrocarbons and ether
Symptoms of Lung Cancer
Symptoms might not even surface until the late stages of lung cancer in some cases but generally the symptoms of lung cancer include:
- coughing
- coughing up blood
- persistent and dull chest pain
- shortness of breath
- wheezing
- weight loss
- fatigue
Any of the above symptoms in a smoker (especially) should be taken seriously and investigated professionally.
Source:
Cancer.gov, "Lung Cancer" (Accessed June 9, 2010)
Junaid Ali - Junaid Ali got his start in the writing business as an academic writer in the freelance commerce. After realizing that the field was too ...
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