What to know

You can lower your lung cancer risk in several ways.

Don't Smoke

The most important thing you can do to prevent lung cancer is to not start smoking, or to quit if you smoke. Smoking can cause cancer and then block your body from fighting it. Nearly 9 in 10 lung cancers are caused by smoking cigarettes. Treatments are getting better for lung cancer, but it still kills more men and women than any other type of cancer.

For help quitting, visit smokefree.gov, call 1 (800) QUIT-NOW (784-8669), or text "QUIT" to 47848. It's never too late to quit!

Stay away from secondhand smoke

Smoke from other people’s cigarettes, pipes, or cigars is called secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in adults who have never smoked. People who have never smoked but are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or at work have a 20% to 30% higher risk of getting lung cancer.

Is lung cancer screening right for you?

The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends yearly lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT scan) for people who:

• Have a 20 pack-year or more smoking history, and
• Smoke now or have quit within the past 15 years, and
• Are 50 to 80 years old.

A pack-year is smoking an average of one pack of cigarettes per day for 1 year. For example, a person could have a 20 pack-year history by smoking one pack a day for 20 years or two packs a day for 10 years.

Lung cancer screening is not without risks. That is why lung cancer screening is recommended only for adults who are at high risk for developing the disease because of their smoking history and age.

If you are thinking about getting screened, learn more and talk to your doctor. Lung cancer screening is not a substitute for quitting smoking.

Fast facts

• Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women in the United States.
• Each year, about 209,000 people in the United States are told they have lung cancer, and about 132,000 people die from this disease.
• Different people have different symptoms for lung cancer. Most people with lung cancer don't have symptoms until the cancer is advanced.

Resource:

https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/features/lung-cancer.html  

Diabetes is a chronic (long-lasting) healthcondition that affects how your body turns food into energy.¹ Most of the food a person eats is turned into glucose (a kind of sugar) for the body’s cells to use for energy. The pancreas, an organ near the stomach, makes a hormone called insulin that helps glucose get into the body’s cells.

When you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use insulin very well. When there isn’t enough insulin, or cells stop responding to insulin, too much sugar stays in your bloodstream. Over time, that can cause serious health problems, such as heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease.¹

There are three types of diabetes:

• Type 1 diabetes is thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction (the body attacks itself by mistake) that stops your body from making insulin. Fewer people have type 1 diabetes, which is most often diagnosed in children, adolescents, or young adults.¹
• Type 2 diabetes develops over many years and is usually diagnosed in adults, but is increasingly being diagnosed in children, teens, and young adults. About 90%-95% of people with diabetes have type 2. Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed with healthy lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, eating healthy foods, and being active. ¹
• Gestational diabetes develops in pregnant women who have never had diabetes. While it usually goes away after pregnancy, gestational diabetes increases a woman’s risk for type 2 diabetes later in life. The condition can also increase a baby’s risk for health problems.¹

For additional information about diabetes, including symptoms, risk factors, and testing, please visit CDC’s Diabetes Basics.

How Is Smoking Related to Diabetes?

We now know that smoking is one cause of type 2 diabetes.² In fact, people who smoke cigarettes are 30%–40% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than people who don’t smoke.^2,3 People with diabetes who smoke are more likely than those who don’t smoke to have trouble with insulin dosing and with managing their condition.^2,3 The more cigarettes you smoke, the higher your risk for type 2 diabetes.^2,3

No matter what type of diabetes you have, smoking makes your diabetes harder to manage. If you have diabetes and you smoke, you are more likely to have serious health problems from diabetes, including:³

• Heart disease
• Kidney disease
• Poor blood flow in the legs and feet that can lead to infections, ulcers, and possible amputation (removal of a body part by surgery, such as toes or feet)
• Retinopathy (an eye disease that can cause blindness)
• Peripheral neuropathy (damaged nerves to the arms and legs that cause numbness, pain, weakness, and poor coordination)

If you have diabetes and you smoke, quitting smoking will benefit your health right away. People with diabetes who quit are better able to manage their blood sugar levels.³

For free help to quit, call 1-800-QUIT NOW (1-800-784-8669) or visit CDC.gov/tips. 

How Can Diabetes Be Prevented?

• Don’t smoke. Smoking increases your chance of having type 2 diabetes.³
• Lose weight if you are overweight.⁴
• Stay active. Physical activity can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in adults who are at high risk for the condition.⁴

The CDC-led National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) lifestyle change program has been proven to help people make the changes needed to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes, improve their overall health, and build healthy habits for life. First, find out your risk by taking the 1-minute prediabetes risk test (available in Spanish and English). Then, learn more about the National DPP lifestyle change program and find a class near you (or online).

How Is Diabetes Treated?

Diabetes treatment and management can include:⁵

• A healthy diet and physical activity program
• Weight loss (if overweight)
• Medicines to manage blood sugar by helping the body use insulin better
• Insulin taken by injection or by using an insulin pump
• Diabetes self-management education and support to address problem-solving and coping skills needed to help manage diabetes and its complications
• Medicines to manage cholesterol and blood pressure

References:

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What is Diabetes? [last updated 2024 May 15; accessed 2024 November 5]
2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General [PDF – 36 MB]. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014 [accessed 2024 November 5].
3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A Report of the Surgeon General. How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: What It Means to You. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2010 [last reviewed 2023 July 27; accessed 2024 November 5].
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prevent Type 2 Diabetes. [last updated 2024 May 15; accessed 2024 November 5].
5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Living With Diabetes. [last updated 2024 May 15; accessed 2024 November 5].