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Lung disease more prevalent in area than rest of state or nation expert says

The rate of incidence for lung cancer is higher in Southern Illinois than the rest of the state and the United States as a whole, says a physician well versed on the subject.

Dr. David Steward, associate dean of community health and service at the SIU School of Medicine, spoke to the media at the Southern Illinois Healthcare Cancer Institute in Carterville Tuesday.

In 2015, lung cancer was identified by SIH as among the top three cancers of most concern in the service area. In general, cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the area.

"Lung cancer…is a very serious issue for the deep parts of Southern Illinois," Steward said.

Steward presented a study conducted between 2009 and 2013 that showed that the incidence rates for lung cancer in Delta counties (the 16 southernmost counties in Illinois) were higher than the state and national averages.

In Franklin County,for example, the study showed 103.4 cases of lung cancer out of 100,000 per year. In Williamson County, the number dropped only slightly to 97.5 cases. In Saline County, the rate is 91.8 cases, and in Gallatin County, it stands at 87.9 percent.

Multiple studies were presented, some measuring age-adjusted rates that compared the mortality rates for men and women for different types of cancer in Southern Illinois and Northern Illinois.

Between 2005 and 2009, there were 81.71 male deaths per 100,000 people due to lung and bronchus cancer downstate as compared to 62.5 upstate.

For women, the rates change to 46.3 deaths per 100,000 people in downstate Illinois as compared to 40.4 deaths upstate.

"We've tried to capture the degree of those differences and the nature of those differences so that we know what the problem is wherever it happens in Illinois, and in particular, Southern Illinois," Steward said.

Mortality rates are also higher for lung cancer in Southern Illinois than in Illinois and the United States.

Steward couldn't pinpoint just one reason why the number of lung cancer cases in the region are higher than elsewhere, but he did point out that the number of patients who smoke in the seven counties served by the cancer center is higher at nearly 27 percent.

Second-hand smoke is also a direct result of a person being exposed regularly to a smoker. And then there is coal mining. The region was built on coal mining and it was not uncommon for miners to suffer "black lung" from their exposure to coal dust.

Steward's report coincides with the Great American Smokeout today - a day set aside each year (third Thursday of November) asking smokers to stop smoking for a day and consider stopping for good.

According to data released by the American Cancer Society, about 40 million Americans still smoke cigarettes, and tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the world.

While cigarette smoking rates have dropped, cigar, pipe, and hookah - other dangerous and addictive ways to smoke tobacco - are very much on the rise.

Quitting smoking has immediate and long-term benefits at any age. Getting help with quitting is best through counseling. Certain medications can also double or triple the chances of quitting successfully.