Lung Cancer

What Causes Lung Cancer?

In order to deal properly with lung cancer we need to understand and — if possible — remove the underlying causes and risk factors.  We need to ask: "What else is going on inside the body that might allow lung cancer to develop?"

Diagnose your symptoms now!
  • understand what's happening to your body
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Accurate diagnosis of the factors behind lung cancer consists of three steps:

Step 1: List the Possible Causative Factors

Identify all disease conditions, lifestyle choices and environmental risk factors that can lead to lung cancer.  Here are two possibilities:
  • Cigarette Smoke Damage
  • Low DHEA

Step 2: Build a Symptom Checklist

Identify all possible symptoms and risk factors of each possible cause, and check the ones that apply:
recent moderate tobacco smoking
hair loss on lower legs
breast cancer
squamous cell skin cancer
reduced sense of smell
low energy/stamina
history of basal cell skin cancer
fatigue for over 3 months
recently quitting smoking
smoking over a pack a day
minor health decline
history of liver cancer
... and so on

Step 3: Rule Out or Confirm each Possible Cause

A differential diagnosis of your symptoms and risk factors finds the likely cause of lung cancer:
Cause Probability Status
Low DHEA 92% Confirm
Cigarette Smoke Damage 53% Possible
* This is a simple example to illustrate the process

Arriving at a Correct Diagnosis

The Analyst™ is our online diagnosis tool that learns all about you through a straightforward process of multi-level questioning, providing diagnosis at the end.

If you indicate cancer, The Analyst™ will ask further questions including this one:
Have you suffered from Lung Cancer?
Possible responses:
→ No / don't know
→ Yes but now resolved for over 5 years
→ Yes but now resolved for under 5 years
→ Current problem but containable
→ Current problem and aggressive/spreading
Based on your response to this question, which may indicate either history of lung cancer or lung cancer, The Analyst™ will consider possibilities such as:
Cigarette Smoke Damage

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women.  Some 90% of lung cancer in men and 79% of lung cancer in women is directly attributed to smoking.  In fact, smoking increases the chance of developing lung cancer 22-fold for males and 12-fold for females.  The relative risk of developing lung cancer is directly proportional to the amount and duration of smoking.  The 250% increase in the occurrence of lung cancer between 1960 and 2000 followed the rise in cigarette smoking 20 years earlier.

Smoking causes lung cancer of all the principal histologic types: squamous cell, large cell, small cell and adenocarcinoma.  Small cell cancer is the most aggressive type of lung cancer and has the worst prognosis.  This kind of cancer tends to grow rapidly spread to other parts of the body early.  Large cell cancer spreads to lymph nodes of the chest and it enters the blood stream where it gets carried to other organs such as the liver, bone, brain, and spinal cord.  Among men there is an increased proportion of squamous cell carcinoma, while in women there is an increased proportion of adenocarcinoma.

Concerned or curious about your health?  Try The Analyst™
Symptom Entry
Symptom Entry
Diagnosis
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Suggestions
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LifeMeter
LifeMeter®
Full Explanations
Explanations
Optional Doctor Review
Review (optional)
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