Lung Cancer Inquiry

[RIchardRR]

Long time lurker, first time poster!

Anyways, I am 21 and a male. I am 5'11, 160lbs. Overall healthy.
Had thyroid cancer at 16, now cured of it.

On to my topic, lung cancer. I am worried about my risk of lung cancer (or lung problems in general) down the road for these reasons;
My mom smoked while pregnant with me,
Constantly exposed for the first 17 years of my life through my mom smoking in the house, packs a day.
I started smoking when I was 14 (quit at 18)
My grandpa (mom's side) had lung cancer.

So what do you think the odds are that I'll get it when I'm older? I'm not exactly stressing about it too much, but I mean I wouldn't be too excited. Give me honest answers, I can handle it.

Thanks!

[Gary A]

I wouldn't think your risk of developing lung cancer in older age is very high, so long as you don't take up smoking again. You undoubtedly have been exposed to smoke in the past, not to mention being a smoker yourself for a period, however, it was when you were much younger abs the longer you spend away from smoke the more your risk decreases. By the time you're in your 40's you'll probably have the pretty much the same lung capacity and function as someone who has never smoked.

[Daniele_T]

See a geneteic councellor.
You can be tested as can family members to see if you have a genetic inheritence of certain cancers....

thats if your family has a high incidence at an early age..if not then you have pretty much the same chances as anyone else.

[Fishmanpa]

See a geneteic councellor.
You can be tested as can family members to see if you have a genetic inheritence of certain cancers....

thats if your family has a high incidence at an early age..if not then you have pretty much the same chances as anyone else.

I disagree with getting more tests, especially something like checking for genetic markers. Why?... doing so just feeds the dragon.

The best preventative is to engage in healthy behaviors and even at that, no one can predict what will happen. Eat right, don't smoke, exercise and hope for the best.

Positive thoughts

[MyNameIsTerry]

I disagree with getting more tests, especially something like checking for genetic markers. Why?... doing so just feeds the dragon.

The best preventative is to engage in healthy behaviors and even at that, no one can predict what will happen. Eat right, don't smoke, exercise and hope for the best.

Positive thoughts

Yes, I agree with you. The only point I can see to it in the case of cancer is to know if you are likely to pass it onto yout children so you can make sure they live a healthy life.

I can see the point in getting a test for many things, many of which are already done for us by our doctors, but with things like cancer it only tells you what you already know; be healthy, cut down on stress, don't smoke, eat well, exercise, etc.

Even if you have a gene passed like this, it is dormant and needs something to activate it to start the abnormal cell growth such as the methylation process. You can get tests for that too. This might reveal more but if you are following all the correct advice for healthy living, this is unlikely to show you anything unless you have a disorder causing it to under or overperform. Epigenetics has been found to show all this.