- ALLERGY, RESPIRATORY
- Childhood Food Allergies on the Rise
- Obesity May Raise Kids' Allergy Risk
- Using Music and Sports to Improve Kids' Asthma
- ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
- Traditional Chinese Therapy May Help Ease Eczema
- Holistic Treatment for Candida Infection
- Uncover Why Turmeric Helps You Heal
- BONES & JOINTS
- Vitamin K Doesn't Slow Bone Loss
- Hip Replacement Boosts Mobility at Any Age
- Studies Struggle to Gauge Glucosamine's Worth
- CANCER
- Tanning Beds Shown To Raise Cancer Risk, Study Says
- Healthy Behaviors Slow Functional Decline After Cancer
- Scams and Shams That Prey on Cancer Patients
- CAREGIVING
- Bariatric Surgery Centers Don't Deliver Better Outcomes
- Newborn Screenings Now Required Across U.S.
- Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome as Deadly as Ever
- CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
- Salt Boosts Blood Pressure in High-Risk Patients
- Years of Exposure to Traffic Pollution Raises Blood Pressure
- Drink a Little Wine, Live a Little Longer
- COSMETIC
- Mouse Study Finds Molecule That Tells Hair to Grow
- Contact Lenses Boost Kids' Self-Image
- The Acne Drug Accutane More Than Doubles Depression Risk
- DENTAL, ORAL
- Good Oral Hygiene May Protect Against Heart Infections
- Gummy Bears Join Cavity Fight
- Holistic Dentistry-My View
- DIABETES
- Americans Consuming More Sugary Beverages
- Insulin Resistance Tied to Peripheral Artery Disease
- Chamomile Tea May Ward Off Diabetes Damage
- DIET, NUTRITION
- Shedding Light on Why Omega-3 Fatty Acids May Help the Heart
- Diet, Exercise May Slow Kidney Disease Progression
- School Meals Need to Get Healthier
- DISABILITIES
- Could Your Cell Phone Help Shield You From Alzheimer's?
- Review Finds Marijuana May Help MS Patients
- ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
- Freckles, Moles May Indicate Risk for Eye Cancer
- Hairspray Exposure Ups Risk for Birth Defect in Sons
- Chemical in Plastics May Cause Fertility Problems
- EYE CARE, VISION
- Contact Lens Cases Often Contaminated
- Just Like Skin, Eyes Can 'Burn' in Strong Sun
- Vision Test for Young Children Called Unreliable
- FITNESS
- After a Stroke, Light Exercise Gets Hands, Arms Working Again
- Vigorous Treadmill Workout Curbs Appetite Hormones
- Vigorous Exercise Can Cut Breast Cancer Risk
- GASTROINTESTINAL PROBLEMS
- Traditional Nonsurgical GERD Treatments Not Impressive
- Olive Oil May Protect Against Bowel Disease
- Gum Chewing May Speed Colon Surgery Recovery
- GENERAL HEALTH
- Hoping for a Happy Family Holiday? Here's How
- Coffee Cuts Liver Scarring in Hepatitis C
- Trans-Fat Ban In New York City Is Proving successful
- HEAD & NECK
- Many Children Will Outgrow Headaches
- Ski Helmets Encouraged for All
- Zen May Thicken Brain, Thwart Pain
- HEALTH & TECHNOLOGY
- Airport Full Body Scanners Pose No Health Threat: Experts
- 'Comfort Dogs' Come to Emotional Rescue
- E-Mailing Your Way to Healthier Habits
- HEART & CARDIOVASCULAR
- Brown Rice Tied to Better Heart Health in Study
- Omega-6 Fatty Acids Can Be Good for You
- Risk Factor for Stroke More Common Among Whites
- INFECTIOUS DISEASE
- Swine Flu Is Now a Pandemic Says W.H.O.
- Bacterial Infections May Succumb to Honey
- Viral Infection Might Trigger High Blood Pressure
- KID'S HEALTH
- Coconut Oil May Help Fight Childhood Pneumonia
- Guard Kids' Eyes Against Long-Term Sun Damage
- Heart Defects in Newborns Linked to Antidepressants
- MEN'S HEALTH
- Countdown to Hair Loss
- The Dark Side of Vegetarianism
- Eating Fast Until Full Triples Overweight Risk
- MENTAL HEALTH
- Keeping Mentally Active Seems To Keep The Brain Active
- Living Alone Increases Odds of Developing Dementia
- The 3LS Wellness Program for Reversing Chronic Symptoms and Creating Lasting Health
- PREGNANCY
- Breast-Feeding Benefits Moms and Babies
- Before Conceiving, Take Folic Acid for One Full Year
- Calcium Supplements Cut Blood Lead Levels During Pregnancy
- SENIORS
- Keeping Mentally Active Seems To Keep The Brain Active
- Rapid Weight Loss in Seniors Signals Higher Dementia Risk
- Want Better Health in the New Year, Add Exercise to Your Day
Quitting Smoking Doubles Survival in Early Stage Lung Cancer
By eholistic.com Published: 01/22/2010
Quitting smoking after a diagnosis of early stage lung cancer doubles the odds that a patient will live another five years, a new study finds.
"The results are quite dramatic. I don't think anybody would have expected such a dramatic difference. It's incredible," said Dr. Norman Edelman, chief medical officer for the American Lung Association. "The important caveat is that this is early lung cancer."
Early stage lung malignancies can have cure rates of 50 percent to 60 percent, Edelman noted. The tragedy is that very few lung cancers (perhaps 20 percent, the authors stated) are diagnosed at this early stage.
The new findings are published in the Jan. 21 online edition of BMJ.
According to an accompanying journal editorial, fewer than one-third of all patients with lung cancer are still alive just one year after diagnosis.
Of course, the best way to prevent lung cancer is to never smoke, or to quit if you do smoke. People who quit smoking have a dramatically lower incidence of being diagnosed with lung cancer over the life span, experts note.
But it's been less clear how quitting smoking might affect patient prognosis after a diagnosis has already been handed down, the study authors said.
To find out, the British researchers pored over data from 10 prior observational studies looking at the impact of quitting smoking post-diagnosis.
"We used meta-analysis to summarize their findings," said study lead author, Amanda Parsons, a Ph.D. candidate at the U.K. Centre for Tobacco Control Studies at the University of Birmingham College of Medicine and Dentistry. "Quitting smoking was associated with around double the chance of surviving at any time point compared to people who continued to smoke."
Only 29 to 33 percent of early stage lung cancer patients who kept smoking survived for five years, while 63 to 70 percent of patients who quit survived that long, Parsons stated.
The survival seemed to come from a lower likelihood of tumor recurrence, not from heart/lung improvements, the researchers said.
All the patients were early stage and had been treated with either surgery, chemotherapy or radiation so, Parsons added, "the results can only be applied to this group of lung cancer patients. This work does not tell us anything about the benefits of quitting smoking if you have advanced disease."
And because all of the studies included in this analysis were observational in nature, it's not certain yet whether quitting smoking actually caused the decline in deaths.
Still, the findings beg the question of whether smoking cessation counseling should be routinely offered to people diagnosed with lung cancer.
According to Parsons, "smoking cessation support is not routinely offered to patients with lung cancer although some hospitals may offer this support." That's in Britain, Edelman noted, and the odds of there being any consistency in this area is even less likely in the U.S., which has no overarching health care system.
"Certainly the American Lung Association pushes smoking cessation for everybody. We say over and over again -- it's never too late to quit. There's good evidence that you can get benefits if you're 70 years old," he said.
