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B OPINION WORLD LUNG CANCER DAY: LET'S CHALLENGE THE MISCONCEPTIONS AND STIGMA DANIEL WANG fact, it's estimated that 20 per cent of individuals who died from mn Jung cancer ev- smoked in their lives. Re- arch has shown that many other factors such as exposure to radon or asbes- tos, air pollution and genet- en you hear “lung cancer," what's the first thing that comes to your a willing to bet that many of you immediately thought of smoking or ciga- rettes. icant contributors to lung cancer. Unfortunately, the com- mon association between smoking and lung er psel has greatly stigmatiz dividuals with the Wiscase. In a recent study examin- ing the general public's per- No. 1 risk factor for ‘ung cancer worldwide, it's im- portant to remember that it's not always the cause. In ception of. h Dar ticipants were presented with the statement: “People with lung cancer should have quit smoking earlier." ver 50 per cent of re- spondents indicated that they "completely agree" or "somewhat agree" with this statement. All lung cancer patients, whether or not they _have a history of , are adversely af- fected by this widespread belief that they're to blame for their illness. r instance, a recent study found that lung can- cer patients often delay seeking medical attention due to feelings of shame and the fear of social rejec- tion that may result from a diagnosis. Asaresult, more than 40 per cent of lung cancer cases aren't diag- nosed until Stage 4, which only has a dismal five-year survival rate of five per nn order to break the stigma, it's essential that we provide empathetic sup- port to lung cancer patients and avoid the blame- the- victim mentality. Obviou: ly smoking can Contribute to lung cancer; however, we often forget about the ad- and investing our resourc- es into developing more ef- fective treatment plans to help individuals success- fully quit. Second-hand smoke is alsoa major cause of jung cancer. Exposure ond-hand smoke often + oe. durine childhood. asa ysn6ny ‘Kepsiny, | seaveg emtayeo | ¢Z and cars completely & smoke-free as there is no 8 way to completely elimi- nate second-hand smoke exposure. Ultimately, although a big part of Aug. 1 World ung Cancer Day is to Pree arareness tes ear- cigarettes. Smoking isn't exactly a “free choice." Every year, it is estimated that 55 per cent of smokers make an at- tempt to quit, but only eight per cent of those peo- ple are successful. Instead of criticizing those who smoke, we should focus our efforts into better educat- ing people, especially the youth, on the negative health effects of smoking START PLANNING YOUR VISIT! Visit result of factors outside of the child's control. Oncea child is exposed to second-hand smoke, their risk for devel- oping lung cancer increas- es by 20 to 30 per cent, even if they abstain from smok- ing during their lifetime. For this reason, it is impor- tant that we protect our children from second-hand smoke. The CDC recom- mends keeping our homes. (eumotor cough, short- ness of breath, chest bain, hoarseness, coughing u blood and unexplained weight loss), I ‘believe that conceptions and stigma as- sociated with the lung can- cer community. Daniel Wang of Guelph is raising awareness about cancer. r tickets! woo'uo}}eyepisul