Early detection is one of the best ways to improve lung cancer survival. It’s a message Northern Light Health is sharing this month in the fight against the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.
In recognition of National Lung Cancer Screening Day on Nov. 11, our hospital imaging teams in Bangor will perform scheduled low dose CT scans that can help detect lung cancer early, before symptoms occur and with less radiation. National Lung Cancer Screening Day is on Veterans Day this year. We encourage our Veterans who are eligible to have the conversation with their primary care providers about getting screened. Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center is acknowledging Lung Cancer Screening Day by screening 24 additional patients on Saturday, Nov. 11.
For this year’s Great American Smokeout on Thursday, Nov. 16, the American Cancer Society is reminding people who smoke to use this as a day to make a plan to commit to a tobacco- and smoke-free life year-round. The ACS has hosted the Great American Smokeout since 1976 as a public awareness event to encourage people to quit smoking. Smoking rates in the U.S. have declined from 42 percent in 1965 to 13.7 percent in 2018, but the gains are inconsistent, and some groups continue to smoke and smoke more heavily than others.
It’s never too late to quit, there are benefits at all ages. ACS is here to provide support to help people quit smoking for good. For more information, to connect with the free telephone quit line, or to access resources to help make a plan to quit, visit cancer.org.
Talk to your primary care provider about your risk. To learn more about screening at Northern Light locations around Maine visit, https://northernlighthealth.org/EMMCLCS.
