Course Project—Plan to Address Health Issue

BEHAVIORAL RISK FACTORS FOR LUNG CANCER 8

Behavioral risk factors for lung cancer

Joseph Toole

Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

17 January 2017

Behavioral and environmental risk factors for lung cancer

Lung cancer is highly dangerous. It is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women and men in the United States. Therefore it is such a delicate health issue that requires extensive discussion on how to reduce and mitigate it. One of the ways of mitigating the consequences of lung cancer is educating the public on behavioral risk factors, since they can be controlled or avoided all together (Ezzati, & Riboli, 2013). Behavioral risk factors are often associated with peoples’ lifestyles and way of living. These lifestyles can be dangerous or expose people to lung cancer, while some lifestyles are considered healthy and hence appropriate for living without the fear of lung cancer.

Two important behavioral risk factors for lung cancer include: risky alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking (Filaire, Dupuis, Galvaing, Aubreton, Laurent, Richard, & Filaire, 2013). These factors are directly related to the causes of lung cancer. Heavy alcohol consumption is the first behavioral risk factor. Heavy drinking has several harmful impacts, including increased risk for lung cancer and cardiovascular complications. In 1984, McMichael and Potter proposed heavy alcohol intake to increase chances of lung cancer in multiple studies (Ezzati, & Riboli, 2013). Since then, many publications and periodicals have warned about the need for men to control their alcohol intake, as the two are closely related.

Cigarette smoking, according to health care professionals is the number one behavioral risk factor for cancer. For instance, in the American population, cigarette smoking has been linked to approximately 80 percent to 90 percent of lung cancer (Filaire, Dupuis, Galvaing, Aubreton, Laurent, Richard, & Filaire, 2013). Using other products from tobacco such as pipes or cigars also increases the risk for lung cancer. Persons who smoke cigarettes almost on a daily basis are 15 to 30 times more likely to get the deadly cancer of the lungs or die from the same than non-smokers.

Predisposing, reinforcing and enabling factors for the selected behavioral risk factors and examples.

Predisposing factors are conditions, characteristics, events or substances that contribute to the onset of cancer (Filaire, Dupuis, Galvaing, Aubreton, Laurent, Richard, & Filaire, 2013). From this definition or description, the predisposing factors also include lifestyle and hereditary conditions as early mentioned. Heavy alcohol consumption is connected to predisposing factors such as gender and hereditary factors or family history. Males are more likely to abuse alcohol than females and hence are at high risk of developing lung cancer (Kim, Kim, Kang, Lee, Lim, Lee, & Ha, 2013). Family history can also be at the center of heavy alcohol consumption. Cigarette smoking is the other behavioral factor associated with lung cancer. Several predisposing factors can contribute to smoking.

Two of these factors include gender and family history. Males are known to be use cigarettes more than females. Therefore, the smoking factor is common in males than in females, and this is why more males die of lung cancer than females (Kim, Kim, Kang, Lee, Lim, Lee, & Ha, 2013). Family history is another predisposing factor associated with lung cancer and smoking as a behavioral risk factor. Some families have been known to smoke from the grandparents to the grandchildren.

Reinforcing factors for smoking and heavy alcohol consumption include external and internal rewards. Usually, those who abuse drugs and alcohol mention that they get internal and external rewards. For instance, for a heavy alcohol drinker, the external reward fulfilment that comes after taking it. On the other hand, the internal reward is associated with the quenching their thirst. Smoking too, has internal and external rewards as reinforcing factors. Additionally, there are people who provide negative reinforcement for people who use these substances (Kim, Kim, Kang, Lee, Lim, Lee, & Ha, 2013). For instance, amongst the youth, peer pressure is a negative reinforcing factor which leads to alcohol addiction and heavy smoking. Being in the wrong company of friends is another factor. Pride in achieving some level of life is an internal reward for most people caught up in these situations. Some people would want to drink to demonstrate how proud they are of their jobs and positions in the society. Unfortunately, the pride can land them into addictions, causing lung cancer.

Enabling factors make it easier for victims to smoke and be involved in heavy consumption of alcohol. Such factors include conditions of living and resources. People with money are likely to attract lung cancer because they can smoke and be heavy drinkers (Wenthe, 2007). On the other hand, poor conditions of living are associated with smoking and heavy drinking since people often ignore the idea of healthy living. For instance, people who live on their own are likely to be involved in heavy consumption of alcohol and cigarette smoking.

Careless living is another example of an enabling factor for smoking and heavy consumption of alcohol. Some people are never mindful of their lifestyles. In fact, these situations are worsened by conditions such as stress or depression. For instance, when a couple gets divorced or separated, one of them could resort to alcohol consumption as a way of dealing with the stress (Wenthe, 2007). Continued use of alcohol, and in some cases tobacco smoking can lead into addiction, which if not checked can precipitate lung cancer. Availability of resources is another enabling factor which plunges people into binge drinking and overusing tobacco.

Young people coming from wealthy backgrounds, especially those in college or universities can sometimes overuse alcohol or smoke because they have the money. Most college or university students have found themselves in this position because they have a lot of money that they may not exactly know how to spend (Wenthe, 2007). The resulting behavior is constant and daily clubbing, which is often associated with heavy drinking and smoking hence leading to lung complication which eventually cause death.

Advantages and Disadvantages of two different settings that can be used to address lung cancer.

Quitting smoking and heavy consumption of alcohol are two ways of addressing the behavioral concerns of lung cancer (Wenthe, 2007). There are several advantages of quitting using substances. Apart from reducing the risk of contracting lung cancer, there are several other benefits associated with behavioral factors associated with lung cancer. One of the settings of addressing the health behavior is quitting smoking and heavy consumption of alcohol. Those who quit smoking as early as possible reduce the possibility of reducing the risk of getting lung cancer by more than 50 percent.

Additionally, quitting smoking has several other health problems such as impotence, tooth loss, fertility problems and gum disease. Saving money or resources is another benefit of quitting smoking. The financial rewards should motivate people to quit smoking and heavy consumption of alcohol (Hecht, & Szabo, 2014). Chances are high that people can save more when they are not smoking or drinking alcohol than the reverse. Weight gain is another benefit. People who drink and smoke a lot often lose weight. However, the challenges of quitting smoking and drinking include relapse and a lot of money used in rehabilitation centers.

Nutrition and better dieting is another strategy that can be used in reducing the behavioral risk factors of lung cancer (Hecht, & Szabo, 2014). Better dieting and nutrition has two advantages: Combating lung cancer risk factors and improving the body’s defense to outside infections. However better eating and nutrition is usually associated with high finances and a lot of time put in choosing the right food.

References

Ezzati, M., & Riboli, E. (2013). Behavioral and dietary risk factors for noncommunicable diseases. New England Journal of Medicine, 369(10), 954-964.

Filaire, E., Dupuis, C., Galvaing, G., Aubreton, S., Laurent, H., Richard, R., & Filaire, M. (2013). Lung cancer: what are the links with oxidative stress, physical activity and nutrition? Lung Cancer, 82(3), 383-389.

Hecht, S. S., & Szabo, E. (2014). Fifty years of tobacco carcinogenesis research: from mechanisms to early detection and prevention of lung cancer. Cancer Prevention Research, 7(1), 1-8.

Kim, H. R., Kim, D. J., Kang, D. R., Lee, J. G., Lim, S. M., Lee, C. Y., ... & Ha, S. J. (2013). Fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 gene amplification is associated with poor survival and cigarette smoking dosage in patients with resected squamous cell lung cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 31(6), 731-737.

Wenthe, P. J. (2007). The predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors associated with physical activity and sedentary behavior in males and females during early adolescence.