Thirty years ago, the new behavioral scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) essentially decided to blame all lung diseases—not just lung cancer—on smoking tobacco. And they began to direct all research and funding into smoking cessation and prevention programs.
That misguided war was supposed to completely solve the problem of lung diseases. But it most certainly did NOT.
In fact, a new study has just found that there are more deaths now due to lung diseases than there were 30 years ago! And I’ll tell you all about that eye-opening study in a moment.
But first, let’s discuss the reason why we’ve made zero, real progress against lung diseases over the last three decades in the first place.
Mainstream puts all its eggs in wrong basket
When the NCI made that fateful decision 30 years ago to pour everything into smoking cessation programs, they also cut back all the good, important research into the genetic and environmental causes of lung diseases.
For example, even back then, we knew that a small minority of people carry a genetic variant that makes them more susceptible to smoke. We’ve even had blood tests to check for this variant for decades…certainly long before the human genome, big science boondoggle!
In fact, I worked on one such blood test way back in 1974 with Dr. Jack Lieberman at the Pulmonary Biochemistry Lab at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California, as a summer researcher.
And now, we have another good screening tool at our disposal—a lung cancer scan called low-dose computed tomography (LDCT).
But government experts dragged their feet on using LDCT. Some public health experts even ridiculed the whole premise of screening for lung cancer! They arrogantly and ignorantly claimed, without any evidence, that people at risk of developing lung cancer would not “bother” to get screened because, supposedly, “they don’t care about their health anyway.”
This resistance to screening for lung cancer stands in stark contrast to the aggressive, routine screening programs for other types of cancer. But unlike routine screenings for other cancers, LDCT actually works and saves lives, which should be the ultimate litmus test for any treatment or screening tool.
In the end, this lack of investment in studying lung cancer—and other lung diseases— simply reflects the medical world’s bias against smokers. And that point brings me back to the new study I mentioned at the beginning of this Dispatch…
Lung disease death rates increase by 18 percent
For this new study, researchers analyzed data from 195 countries. And they found that the death rate from chronic lung diseases rose by 18 percent over the past three decades.
Plus, it turns out, the most common lung diseases are:
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Asthma
- Pneumoconiosis (due to dust inhalation)
- Interstitial lung disease (characterized by scarring of the lungs)
- Pulmonary sarcoidosis (chronic inflammation and scarring)
As you’ll notice, lung cancer isn’t even on the top-5 list. So, clearly, there’s a lot more to lung diseases than just lung cancer.
Not to mention, many of these conditions actually relate to factors other than smoking. For example, COPD and interstitial lung disease often stem from long-term exposure to hazardous materials, such as asbestos or pollution. Bacteria, viruses, or chemicals may trigger pulmonary sarcoidosis. And obesity accounts for most asthma deaths, particularly among women.
Despite this basic knowledge, mainstream medicine still tries to blame all lung diseases on tobacco. So, they bend, twist, ignore, and bury the science to suit their political agenda. In a similar vein, big pharma continues to push costly prescription drugs for COPD and asthma—which clearly cause far more harm than good.
Fortunately, you have many safe, natural options for protecting and improving your lung health. In fact, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved acupuncture as a safe and effective treatment for COPD, asthma, and other lung diseases way back in 1995. And I reported about these natural approaches in the May 2013 issue of my Insiders’ Cures monthly newsletter, (“Ancient cure for COPD and asthma symptoms could make inhalers and drugs obsolete!”). So if you’re not yet a subscriber, now’s the perfect time to get started.
I also recently pulled together 40 years’ worth of research into the many effective, science-backed, natural approaches to preventing—and even reversing—all types of lung disease in my Breathe Better Lung Health Protocol. To learn more about this comprehensive, online learning tool, or to enroll today, click here now!
Source:
“Trends and risk factors of mortality and disability adjusted life years for chronic respiratory diseases from 1990 to 2017: systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.” British Medical Journal, 2/19/20;368:m237. doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m237