Lung cancer is a type of cancer that begins in the lungs, which prevents it from doing its job in introducing oxygen into the body and excreting carbon dioxide. Lung cancer is the main cause of cancer deaths worldwide.
Symptoms of lung cancer
Often, the patient does not show any symptoms in the early stages of the disease, and begins to appear when the disease develops. These symptoms include:
- A persistent cough that does not go away.
- Coughing up blood.
- Shortness of breath.
- pain in chest.
- Hoarseness.
- Unexplained weight loss.
- Exhaustion And pain in the bones.
- Headache.
When the disease worsens, the following symptoms begin to appear as complications from lung cancer:
- Shortness of breath: If the cancer grows and causes a blockage in the airways, it results in severe shortness of breath, and the accumulation of fluid around the lungs in the chest cavity can prevent the lung from expanding optimally when taking an inhale.
- The presence of blood in the cough: Lung cancer causes bleeding in the respiratory tract, which leads to coughing up blood, and this bleeding can become severe in some cases.
- Pain: When lung cancer develops in the body, it can spread to the lining of the lung or other places such as the bones, causing severe pain.
- Spread: Lung cancer can spread to other places of the body, such as the brain and bones, and it is called malignancy, and it is often not treatable at this stage, and treatment is limited to relieving symptoms as much as possible to live longer.
Causes Of Lung Cancer
Smoking is the cause of most lung cancer cases, with more than 70% of all cancers. However, there are many other causes and factors for lung cancer, including the causes of lung cancer:
- Smoking: Because it contains cancer-causing chemicals, and the greater the numberCigarettes The daily and period of smoking increased this risk, while cigarette smoke is the most risk factor, but smoking of all kinds causes a danger to the body such as cigars, pipes, chewing tobacco and hashish.
- Exposure to secondhand smoke: The risk of lung cancer increases when exposed to secondhand smoke even if the person is not a smoker.
- Previous radiotherapy: If you underwent radiation therapy as a result of developing another type of cancer, you may be more likely to develop lung cancer.
- Exposure to radon gas: Radon is produced by the natural decomposition of uranium in soil and rockswaterWhich eventually becomes part of the air we breathe, and this gas can accumulate in any building, including homes.
- Exposure to carcinogens: Continuous exposure to carcinogenic substances in the workplace or other places can lead to lung cancer, especially if you are a smoker, and these substances include nickel, arsenic, chromium and asbestos.
- Heredity: The risk of lung cancer increases when there is a family history of the disease.
Types of Lung Cancer
Doctors divide lung cancer into two main types depending on the appearance of cancer cells in the lung under a microscope, as treatment depends on identifying one of these two types, namely:
- Small cell lung cancer: Small cell lung cancer occurs almost exclusively in heavy smokers and is less common than non-small cell lung cancer.
- Non-small cell lung cancer : Non-small cell lung cancer is an umbrella term for several types of lung cancer, including squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and large cell carcinoma.
Lung Cancer Treatment
The treatment plan is determined based on several factors, including the general health of the patient, the type and stage of the cancer, the extent of its spread, and the preferences of the sick person. More than one method is incorporated into the treatment. These methods include:
- Surgery: A process in which doctors remove the cancerous tumor and part of the healthy tissue. The amount of healthy tissue removal depends on the degree of damage and may sometimes reach a complete lung removal.
Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy drugs can be oral pills, or intravenous drugs, or sometimes both, used before surgery to shrink and kill cancer, or after surgery to kill any cancer cells that remain. - Radiation therapy: It uses high-energy rays, similar to X-rays, to kill cancer cells. It can be used before or after the operation, along with chemotherapy, if surgery is not an option, and it is used with chemotherapy as a basic treatment.
- Targeted therapy: In which drugs are used to prevent the growth and spread of cancer cells. Medicines can be oral pills or drugs injected into the veins, by attacking specific abnormalities within cancer cells, and they work to kill cells by preventing these abnormalities. Advanced or persistently recurring cancer.
- Immunotherapy: It is a stimulating treatment for advanced cancers that have spread within the bodyimmune system To attack cancer cells, because cancer cells secrete a specific protein that prevents the immune system from recognizing them. Immunotherapy aims to disrupt this process.
- Supportive care: It is a program that aims to alleviate the symptoms of cancer and the side effects of treatment as well. It aims to support and encourage the patient and improve his psychological state, which helps him to resist the disease more.
Alternative Therapies For Lung Cancer
Complementary and alternative therapies are not helpful in treating lung cancer, but they are useful in relieving symptoms. Among these treatments:
- Acupuncture.
- Hypnosis to help Relax.
- Massage.
- Meditation andYoga.
- Nutritional supplements.
- Herbs and a healthy diet.
Dealing with shortness of breath caused by lung cancer in home ways helps reduce its severity, such as:
- Relaxation: Because anxiety makes breathing difficult, keep yourself busy with things you like, such as listening to music.
- Bend forward and lie flat on your stomach.
- Focus with your breaths.
- Spend your effort only for important activities.
In the end, keeping away from the pathogens is the best way to prevent them, and quitting smoking permanently even after many years of smoking is the most important factor in your prevention of lung cancer, and by this you protect yourself and the people around you to the same degree.
