Get screened and early detection are common words you hear from experts in the medical field. Many shrug at these words thinking “that will never happen to me”, until it does. While getting screened won’t stop or cure cancers, it does allow doctors to find cancer cells at early stages when it is the most curable.
Most recent studies from the Swedish American Health System show that Low Dose CT scans can now detect early stages of cancer, such as lung cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, more than 150,000 people die each year from lung cancer. People with greater risk of lung cancer are those between 55 and 74 years of age, former and current smokers and those exposed to asbestos.
John Myers, Chairman of surgery at Swedish Americans says, “right now only 15% of lung cancers are cured. If we can go to 30%, 40% or 50% by diagnosing earlier we need to do that”.
So even though it may get old hearing how you should be getting screened for all sorts of cancers, do it. These simple screenings that take 30 minutes could potentially save your life.