Lung cancer screening: the test saving lives among people who do not know they qualify
Lung cancer remains the deadliest malignancy in the United States, killing more Americans annually than breast, colon, and prostate cancers combined. Despite this sobering reality, a life-saving screening test exists that catches the disease at its earliest and most treatable stages, and the majority of people who qualify for it have never received it. The […]
Lung inflammation and the treatments that work
The lungs are not passive organs. They are constantly exposed to whatever moves through the air — bacteria, viruses, allergens, pollutants, smoke — and the tissue responds accordingly. When that exposure tips into something the body can’t easily clear, inflammation sets in. Medically, this condition is called pneumonitis or pneumonia depending on the cause, and […]
Why are lung diseases rising in people who have never smoked a single cigarette
Lung function declines naturally with age, but the rate and eventual long-term trajectory of that decline is not fixed. It is shaped substantially by the air breathed across a lifetime, the environments inhabited, the habits practiced, and the inflammatory exposures accumulated without awareness. What clinicians in this field are increasingly documenting is that serious respiratory […]
Hantavirus case in Illinois has nothing to do with the ship
A Winnebago County resident may have caught the virus closer to home than anyone expected. Illinois health officials are keeping a close watch on a potential hantavirus case in Winnebago County — and the circumstances surrounding it are raising new questions about where the real risk lies. The Illinois Department of Public Health confirmed Tuesday […]
Why COPD and pneumonia are hitting Black Americans harder
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, commonly known as COPD, and pneumonia frequently occur together, and when they do, the combination is dangerous. For Black Americans, systemic barriers to care make that danger significantly harder to navigate. The numbers that exist tell part of the story, but experts say the more serious problem is the patients those […]