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Central and southern Illinois lung cancer rates double those in Chicago region

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Illinois

* Maureen Foertsch McKinney…

Lung cancer rates in central and southern Illinois are double those in the Chicagoland region, according to the American Lung Association.

Kristina Hamilton, who is advocacy director for the American Lung Association in Illinois, said smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer in the state.

”The smoking rates are higher in many of the counties where the lung cancer incidence rate is higher. We see a lot of correlation,’’ she said. “The smoking rate for the state of Illinois is about 15 percent. But in some of those counties with high lung cancer rates, we’re seeing rates of 20 to almost 30 percent for smoking rates.”

She said individuals in mainly rural parts of southern and central Illinois have less access to lung cancer screening because there are fewer medical facilities performing the service.

Estimates are more than 9,000 people in Illinois will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year, and more than 5,000 will die from the disease. That’s according to the American Lung Association.

Thoughts?

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:02 am

Comments

Rich, you may want to fix the headline.

Comment by G'Kar Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:10 am
Eastern Bloc what say you?

Comment by We’ll See Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:12 am
That smoking rate of 20%-30% is staggering (15% is too high for Chicago too but at least closer to the national average of 12%). More work needs to be done on that

Comment by Sox Fan Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:12 am
It’s been a couple of weeks but I was reading a similar article talking about rural vs urban cancers in Canada. The article was mostly about early detection and care being better in urban areas but then they went on to talk about lung cancer. They believe there is a larger difference because there are not as many places to smoke in public in the cities and it is considered more taboo in higher density populations.
The conclusion seems applicable to us too.

Comment by Lurker Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:16 am
smoking is a personal choice, but it’s still horrible when people get sick. bad for them and also the healthcare system.

Comment by Amalia Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:16 am
Living in southern Illinois I have people tell me they drive to Missouri for “cheap” cigarettes.

I tell them there is no such thing.

Comment by Flying Elvis'-Utah Chapter Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:16 am
Deaths of despair

Comment by LakeCo Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:18 am
Smoking is still considered “manly” in parts of American culture. And, it may be that people who had parents who were smokers are more likely to take up the habit.

Interesting that areas with the lowest COVID vaccine rates also have high rates of lung cancer attributed to smoking. There’s a lot of “It won’t happen to me” mentality with both issues.

As someone who has survived cancer twice (I have never smoked), let me tell you you don’t want to do anything to increase your odds of getting cancer.

Smoking is self-destructive, every time.

Comment by Streator Curmudgeon Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:39 am
If their reaction to Covid is indicative of a general anti-science sentiment this makes sense.

Comment by Big Dipper Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:40 am
==smoking is a personal choice==

The second hand smoke isn’t.

Comment by Big Dipper Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:42 am
20-30%, yikes. I’m happy I quit that atrocious habit a decade ago. A guy named Joel Spitzer from Skokie has some great writings and videos. He never smoked but is a strong cold turkey advocate. That was the only way I could quit once and for all. If anyone wants to quit their nicotine habit I strongly recommend searching his work. He doesn’t charge for it.

Comment by Independent Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:42 am
= Eastern Bloc what say you? =

I’m sure they’ll figure out a way to blame Madigan and/or Chicago.

Comment by JoanP Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:57 am
Info from IDPH on this subject. Was surprised (probably shouldn’t have been) of the Central Illinois counties with the highest incidence rates. Among them- Macon, Logan, DeWitt, Mason, and Christian. https://dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/diseases-and-conditions/cancer/2022-2027-illinois-comprehensive-cancer-control-plan/cancer-burden-illinois/lung-cancer.html

Comment by Anon221 Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:59 am
Maybe one of the state employee annual required training videos could include smoking prevention and cessation? It seems like any given moment during the workday on the north side of the Howlett Building there’s at least several employees on smoking break.

Comment by Just Sayin Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 11:16 am
“smoking is a personal choice”

Know what isn’t? My health insurance premiums going up partly due to the cost of treating all the illnesses associated with this choice.

Comment by Flying Elvis'-Utah Chapter Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 11:17 am
Smoking isn’t the only culprit, there are other environmental factors like radon, etc, which are often ignored.

Comment by Candy Dogood Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 11:21 am
And it is probably not just smoking, but vaping, too, that is (or will be in the future) driving this increase.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33429159/

https://dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/prevention-wellness/tobacco/e-cigarettes-and-vapes.html

Comment by Anon221 Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 11:24 am
===Smoking isn’t the only culprit, there are other environmental factors like radon, etc, which are often ignored.===

True. But on the surface, the explanation for the wide discrepancy between urban and rural areas sure seems to be the percentage of people smoking. I may be wrong, but shouldn’t the causes due to pollution/environmental be more present in confined urban areas?

Comment by Sox Fan Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 11:26 am
Here in Central Illinois you can wash your clothes, drink and gamble all in the same place. For those seeking laundry services the cigarette smoke is so strong it makes one gag. In these small towns there is no enforcement of no smoking.

Comment by Cable Line Beer Gardener Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 11:32 am
When I moved from DeKalb to Chicago, I definitely noticed a decrease in people smoking outside. With both high taxes on cigarettes and many apartments banning it on their property (inside and out), I’ve known many friends who quit since moving to Chicago.

Comment by NIU Grad Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 12:27 pm
I tend to agree much of the problem is cultural; smoking is more common down in those regions, but there may also be other environmental factors: coal-burning powerplants, a carefree attitude to trash burning, inhalation of ag chemicals from field spraying, and indoor living/smoking in basement rec rooms that don’t have radon mitigations. Smoking is terrible, but smoking in a basement with high radon levels shoots your chances for cancer into orbit, makes it almost a certainty. And radon’s usually worse in areas with old mines below it.

Comment by Give Us Barabbas Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 12:56 pm
===But on the surface, the explanation for the wide discrepancy between urban and rural areas sure seems to be the percentage of people smoking===

Don’t let smoking wag the dog. In rural Illinois there is much less enforcement of environmental regulations, fewer state resources, and municipal employees tasked with monitoring and testing things like water are more likely to be hired based off of family relationships.

Part of the problem is voting for people that want to be “business friendly” but smoking is a handy thing to blame because it can be considered an individual vice instead of paying attention to things like radon levels in schools, day cares, workplaces, and homes.

There’s also limited enforcement of existing smoking bans that makes this less about individual choice and more about permitting abuse.

Comment by Candy Dogood Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 12:59 pm
Some is cultural, other factors: casual trash burning and ag chemicals on fields, coal based power plants, unmitigated radon in basement rec rooms. Smoking is bad; add radon, and cancer’s practically guaranteed.

Comment by Give Us Barabbas Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 1:12 pm
===Know what isn’t? My health insurance premiums going up partly due to the cost of treating all the illnesses associated with this choice.===

From the NHTSB: Per vehicle miles traveled in 2020, motorcyclists were about 28 times more likely than passenger vehicle occupants to die in a motor vehicle crash and were 4 times more likely to be injured.

Is riding a motorcycle a choice? If so, why should I pay higher medical insurance premiums for those who choose to ride a motorcycle?

Comment by Southern IL Bob Too Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 2:09 pm
===But in some of those counties with high lung cancer rates, we’re seeing rates of 20 to almost 30 percent for smoking rates.===

Not surprising. As much as Central Illinois loves their guns, in terms of media interaction, nothing generates input like discussions about smoking / smoking bans. Makes the 2nd Amendment crowd look tiny in comparison.

Comment by Anyone Remember Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 2:46 pm
Is it possibly genetic? I know in my mother’s family who lives in central, the cancer rate is high (in this case breast/ovarian and leukemia). Is it possible that central IL simply has more people genetically predisposed to cancer?

Add genetic predisposition to environmental factors and the rates go way up.

Don’t forget that Chicago had silver shovel and other dump corruption cases. So I would not bet that the ambient condition is any better in all neighborhoods of Chicago.

Comment by cermak_rd Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 3:31 pm
Some of you all do know that people who have never smoked get lung cancer right?

Comment by Demoralized Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 3:40 pm
Screening may reduce lung cancer deaths, but it will increase the number of reported lung cancer victims, not decrease them.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 6:01 pm
==ome of you all do know that people who have never smoked get lung cancer right? ==

The overwhelming majority are smokers:

More than 84% of women and 90% of men with a new diagnosis of lung cancer either smoke or used to smoke. Half of the patients ages 20 to 64 said they currently smoke

Comment by Big Dipper Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 6:44 pm
Wait what ? All that tobacco settlement money must have run out for anti smoking programs and campaigns. Illinois received like $9 Billion where did it all go ?

Comment by NorthsideNoMore Tuesday, Aug 9, 22 @ 8:51 am
===anti smoking programs and campaigns===

You must’ve missed that whole “Let’s ignore government health warnings” thing we’ve been through the past couple years.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 9, 22 @ 9:24 am