‘You do think: why me?’ The shocking rise of lung cancer in non-smokers

The ‘smoker’s disease’ is affecting more and more people who have never lit up in their lives – and it is a particular problem among women. What do experts think is going on?‘Don’t go home. Order a taxi, go to A&E and have a chest x-ray. I don ’t think this is asthma-related. Something’s not right here.” Her GP’s words struck fear into Jenny Abbott.It hadn ’t started out that way. A few weeks earlier, before Christmas 2017, she got a bad cold and a cough. An out-of-hours GP thought her longstanding viral-induced asthma was playing up and prescribed her steroids. A week later, her own family doctor took the same view. It was a reassuringly familiar d iagnosis. But it was wrong. Abbott was surprised when her usual run round the park near her north London home left her breathless. “I just thought I was tired. But the next day I noticed that I was becoming breathless going up the stairs. And the day after that, I had to read something out at work , and even doing that made me breathless,” she recalls. Those symptoms triggered her GP’s plea to go to A&E.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Health & wellbeing Medical research Lung cancer Society Cancer research Science Life and style Source Type: news