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PaperclipPerfector  10d ago (text post)   1630 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for February 26, 2025

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

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For our resident doctors - is it common for nonsmokers to get lung cancer? I'm wondering because my mother in law got a "probably cancer" diagnosis from her doctor recently, but (to my knowledge) she never has smoked nor lived with smokers. It seems kind of like she has gotten royally unlucky, but maybe it's more common than I would've thought.

In addition to air pollution which was mentioned, and the simple fact that other organs can get cancer also with no apparent cause, there’s also radon. At least which I’m located, many basements have unsafe levels of natural radon which can significantly boost cancer risk. Not a doctor. Estimates of how much radon causes lung cancers overall vary but the link itself is pretty strong and has been known for decades, it’s often listed as the number 2 cause in a lot of literature.

It is certainly most common for lung cancer to be caused by smoking (at least in the U.S.). It does depend on the type of cancer though, one counter example you may know is mesothelioma - it's usually a lung cancer, and usually related to asbestos exposure.

I'd say in my clinical experience I've run into crypto-smokers more than people who got traditional lung cancer from other causes.

Keep in mind that the problem is more "pollution" than cigarette smoke. People with lives who brought in the in touch with all kinds of shitty carcinogenic bullshit can easily end up getting lung cancer without smoking, but that is less common in the U.S. Grew up next to a tire fire? Life history may present alternative examples.

Lastly, you do run into smoker-pulmonologists - they rightly point out that smoking is a genetic disease (even if it is a "two hit" situation). High genetic predisposition? Makes sense that lesser exposure would cause problem.

crypto-smoker

Huh?

Some people smoke but don't want other people to know about it, a common sample motivation is because they know it's bad but don't want their kids/relatives to pick up the habit.

I see.

Any idea how much of a risk factor is exposure to (black) mold in the home?

Not really off hand, I'd want to do a lit review for that to have some certainty (although I think the answer is not high risk). You can do that yourself though! Yes it would be a bit dry but if you search "pubmed lung cancer black mold" you can probably get a reasonable impression for a pretty narrow question like this.

Does this count the ‘smokes but lies to the health insurance company’ crowd or are they mostly honest with their doctors?

One of the things you learn in medical school realllllll fucking fast is that most people are shockingly honest with their doctors. Some topics are tough but many topics you think people would lie about (like drug use, or wanting to murder someone) are often whole heartedly endorsed.

It's more of a problem for families, and for often good reasons (I didn't want the kids to think smoking was cool!!).

Thanks for the info!

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