Description
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States in both men and women. Approximately 175,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. It most commonly strikes people between the ages of 45 and 70 who are smokers or exsmokers. People who are regularly exposed to radon or industrial carcinogens are also at increased risk. Approximately twice as many men get lung cancer as women.
Lung cancer usually originates in the lung tissue or bronchial tubes, but in some cases It spreads to the lungs from the breast, colon, prostate, kidney, thyroid, or other organ. Lung cancer can also easily spread from the lungs to surrounding organs.
Lung cancer treatment does not have an extremely high cure rate. That’s why prevention is key. Don’t start smoking, and if you still smoke, make every effort to quit.
Signs and Symptoms
In its early stages, lung cancer often produces no symptoms. When it reaches later stages, the most common symptoms are:
- Chronic, hacking cough that may bring up phlegm
- Blood-streaked phlegm
- Chronic respiratory infections
- Shortness of breath or wheezing
- Chest pain
- Hoarseness
- Appetite and weight loss
- Fatigue and muscle weakness
conventional Medical Treatments
Between 5 and 10 percent of lung cancers are discovered during routine chest X-rays for other illnesses, such as chronic bronchitis or pneumonia. sputum (phlegm) examinations also frequently uncover cancer cells. Lung cancer is often asymptomatic in its early stages, so if you are a smoker or exsmoker, your physician may suggest yearly chest X-rays. A CAT scan may be taken to check for very small lesions and to help determine whether the cancer has spread to other sites. Your physician also may want to perform a bronchoscopy to view air passages or take a biopsy of lung tissue.
If the cancer is localized, your physician may recommend lung resection, an operation to remove only the damaged portion of the lung. Chemotherapy and/or radiation are the most common avenues of treatment” for people who have many cancerous growths on their lungs.
Complementary and Alternative Treatments
Nutrition and Supplementation
In addition to following the nutritional and supplement recommendations listed under the generp Cancer entry, try eating shiitake or maitake mushrooms or take a maitake supplement. These mushrooms kill cancer cells and are particularly effective in controlling lung cancer. They also minimize the side effects of chemotherapy.
Recent research shows that taking N-acetyl cysteine and glutathione supplements can be helpful.
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Acupuncture In addition to studying the efficacy of electro acupuncture as a tool in diagnosing lung cancer, as has been done at the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Southern California, therapists also use acupuncture-with and without electrical stimulation-to treat the cough, shortness of breath, and chest discomfort often symptomatic with lung cancer.
Acupressure To quiet a cancer-related cough, have a practitioner work on the following acupressure body points: Lung 1, 5, 7, and 9; Conception Vessel 17 and 22; Stomach 36; Spleen 6, and Kidney 6.
Chinese Herbal Therapy Chinese herbs have long been used to combat lung cancer. Herbal remedies might include dandelion, Job’s tears, achyranthes, bletilla, ophiopogon, and Japanese honeysuckle. Yet, perhaps the most famous liver cancer curative is pseudoginseng, which quells the internal bleeding often associated with lung cancer.
Many other herbs have been tested. A long-term study conducted by the Beijing Institute for Cancer Research found that 91.5 percent of the small-cell lung cancer patients who were given the traditional Chinese kidney tonics Six Flavor Tea or Golden Book Tea as an adjunct to radiation and chemotherapy experienced substantial tumor shrinkage, as opposed to 46.9 percent who used the conventional therapy alone. A large number of the patients who drank Chinese medicinal tea also lived considerably longer than their chemoonly counterparts.
