"Alteration to DNA methylation might potentially explain why some former smokers sustain additional genetic damage resulting in lung cancer," Vucic said. "As methylation is a reversible DNA modification, this knowledge could prompt the development and application of chemopreventive agents and unique therapeutic strategies that target DNA methylation in these patients."

It's one of the first studies to look at the effects of different forms of vitamin E on lung cancer risk.

There are eight forms of vitamin E: four tocopherols (alpha, beta, gamma, delta) and four tocotrienols (alpha, beta, gamma, delta). Alpha-tocopherol is the main source found in supplements and in the European diet, while gamma-tocopherol is the most common form in the American diet.

Mike Adams at Natural News comments on this:

... the real truth about natural vitamin E continues to come out: It slashes lung cancer risk by a whopping 55 percent. It also slashes the risk of other cancers, but only if you use the natural form of vitamin E, not the synthetic form. The National Cancer Institute knows this, of course, but they continue to use synthetic vitamin E anyway, since the whole purpose of their own studies is to discredit vitamin E rather than conduct actual science.

It makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Following an X-ray, he was told he had a spot on his lung, but the doctor didn't feel it was anything to worry about ... Since he hated going to doctors, he didn't do anything abut it. Five months later, he was in the hospital, diagnosed with lung cancer.

She says people shouldn't wait to have lung spots checked out, even if the doctor thinks there's nothing to worry about and Dr. Gott responds in agreement.

Read the full letter and Dr. Gott's response here.

Just a few weeks ago she announced her illness and gave an interview with state radio RTE. She said the cancer had spread to her liver and brain. During the interview she also said she didn't believe in an afterlife.

"I can't be consoled by the mention of God. I wish everyone comfort for those who believe, but I cannot. To me it's meaningless."

She also said she could no longer concentrate or enjoy the things she used to.

"Beauty means nothing to me anymore. I tried to read (Marcel) Proust again recently, but it has gone — the magic has gone. It amazed me how quickly my life turned black."

After her diagnosis, she opted not to undergo chemotherapy. Before entering hospice care, she spent her last weeks traveling and visiting with friends.

The papers said that people who inherit the variation from one parent have a 30 percent greater chance of getting lung cancer. Those who inherit the variation from both parents face an increased risk of 70 to 80 percent.

Several researchers believe it is not the gene variant itself that causes lung cancer but the fact that the variant appears to cause addiction to nicotine.

Stefansson said the extra cigarettes, not the gene itself, led to lung cancer. His group estimates that the variation was indirectly responsible for 18 percent of lung cancers and 10 percent of cases of peripheral artery disease, which is also linked to smoking.

"Our study of supplemental multivitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E and folate did not show any evidence for a decreased risk of lung cancer," study author Dr. Christopher G. Slatore, a fellow in the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Washington, said in a statement. "Indeed, increasing intake of supplemental vitamin E was associated with a slightly increased risk of lung cancer."

"Smoking increases the risk of cerebrovascular disease, which is also tied to dementia," study author Dr. Monique Breteler, of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, said in a prepared statement. "Another mechanism could be through oxidative stress, which can damage cells in the blood vessels and lead to hardening of the arteries. Smokers experience greater oxidative stress than nonsmokers, and increased oxidative stress is also seen in Alzheimer's disease."

The results of the study were published in the Sept. 4 issue of Neurology.

Smokers More Likely to Develop Dementia

Chang said that because more men smoke than women, women may be more likely to be exposed to secondhand smoke, even when they are classified as never-smokers

Many lung cancer cases in nonsmokers, study finds

He thought the lucky scratch off ticket would buy him good care and more time. But, New York State Lottery rules prevent Wayne's winnings from doing just that. "He said, ‘I've got one foot in the grave and one foot on a banana peel and now New York state is going to screw with me and I'm not going to get all my money,'" [his friend] Domonick recalled.

The New York State Lotto says:

“We are, and have been, ready to work with a bank or financial institution and expedite the necessary legal paperwork to allow Mr. Schenk to receive an appropriate portion of his remaining 19 annual payments. Every month, the lottery makes some of its scheduled payments to companies and financial institutions that have stepped up and helped lottery winners in their time of need.”

Schenk is receiving treatment at a VA hospital but would like to get treatment at a cancer center and says the money would help him do that.

It's tragic and a sad state of affairs that the only way many people can afford cancer treatment is to win the lottery. Let's hope he is able to access the money so that he can get the care he needs.

Bittersweet Win for Lottery Winner

"Not surprisingly," the investigators write, "patients with incidentally detected lung cancer had smaller cancers and earlier-stage disease." In fact, half of all patients with early disease had lung cancer detected by chance.

Lung removal often unneeded for "incidentalomas"

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