The Fighters
December 18, 2018 | Editorial Staff
Behind every fight for breath, there’s a story: a husband who battles through long and difficult treatment. A mom who keeps going for her son. A dad who inspires his kids to ensure no one has to suffer like him.Every story is a reminder that this community will do whatever it takes to stop lung disease, for ourselves and for others. We wanted to share a snapshot of these people, their lives and those who love them.
Watchful Waiting and Lung Cancer Treatment: When is it the right choice?
December 14, 2018 | Editorial Staff
You watch sunsets or movies or birds. You wait for buses or amusement park rides or your turn in line. But what do watching and waiting have to do with lung cancer? It can seem counterintuitive to a lung cancer patient for their doctor to recommend "watchful waiting" or “active surveillance” as the right course of action for treating their lung cancer tumor.
Do No Harm: Why You Shouldn’t Smoke Around Lung Cancer Patients
December 6, 2018 | Editorial Staff
Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure is unsafe for everyone, but did you know that it can be especially dangerous for people with lung cancer ? We sat down with Oladimeji Akinboro, M.D., M.P.H., Fellow, Hematology/Oncology at Boston University Medical Center to discuss what is known about the impacts of secondhand smoke exposures on lung cancer patients and what still needs to be discovered.
Clean Hands, Healthy Lungs
December 4, 2018 | Editorial Staff
What’s the best way to avoid getting sick? Washing your hands! It’s especially important to remember handwashing this time of year when respiratory illnesses—like the flu—are circulating. Touching your eyes, nose or mouth with germy hands is the most common way to catch a virus.
Coping with COPD and Anxiety
November 27, 2018 | Caryn Blanton, MSW, LCSW
With symptoms like shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, it’s easy to understand why anxiety is common in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Anxiety can bring up feelings of nervousness and fear, and even physical symptoms which can impact day-to-day life. Identifying, understanding and managing anxiety is important for people living with COPD. Especially since this connection between anxiety and COPD is associated with more severe COPD symptoms, increased use of healthcare, more hospitalizations and need for treatment.
Miss Pennsylvania Encourages Flu Protection for Communities throughout Pennsylvania
November 21, 2018 | Kayla Repasky, Miss Pennsylvania
As a nursing student at the University of Alabama last year, I was in shock when I found out the number of students who were reluctant to get the flu vaccine. There seemed to be so many misconceptions about it. To help combat those flu myths, I decided to hold a flu shot clinic on campus—allowing students to get their flu shot for free. It was a great success with 300 people coming by the clinic, and the opportunity to have some much-needed conversations with my fellow students was tremendous. This year, I have been able to team up with the American Lung Association to help raise even more awareness of the importance of the influenza vaccine and help dispel some of those myths.
20th Anniversary of Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement
November 20, 2018 | Editorial Staff
Twenty years ago, four major tobacco companies settled a court case with 46 states and the District of Columbia. The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) remains the largest civil settlement in U.S. history, and as a result, kids are better protected from tobacco marketing (see you later Joe Camel!). The funding from the settlement was intended to be allocated to lifesaving tobacco control efforts in states, not just when the agreement was signed, but through annual payments by the tobacco companies to the states forever due to the death and disease their products cause.
Tumor Testing Can Open the Door for New Lung Cancer Treatments
November 13, 2018 | Editorial Staff
Fast and furious. That is an accurate way to categorize the progress that has been made in personalized (or precision) medicine in lung cancer over the past several years. For decades, lung cancer was treated with a one-size-fits-all approach. But now, scientists are learning more about what makes up cancer tumors and causes them to grow, opening the door for treatment tailored to patients’ unique needs.
Related Topics:
LUNG FORCE, Science,
The Connection Between Pneumonia and Lung Disease
November 12, 2018 | Editorial Staff
Our bodies have built-in security systems. For instance, your nose and airways filter germs out of the air you breathe, which help keep your lungs from becoming infected. But there are times when germs find a way to enter the lungs and cause infections.
Lung Cancer Screening: A Simple Way to Save Lives
November 8, 2018
| Andrea McKee, M.D.
What if we could save 25,000 lives with a simple screening? We can. Lung cancer is the nation’s leading cancer killer of both men and women, accounting for 25 percent of total cancer deaths in the United States. Unfortunately, less than 5 percent of those recommended to undergo lung cancer screening (LCS) for early detection have done so.