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March 09, 2006
Dana Reeve and Lung Cancer
I was so sad to hear about the death of Dana Reeve. It's hard to believe that someone who gave so much of herself in caring for her husband, Christopher Reeve, would have her life cut so short. Add to that the fact that she leaves behind a son of 13 who has already been through too much and it becomes a great human tragedy. Because she didn't smoke, many people are wondering what could have caused her lung cancer. Some speculate that the stress of taking care of her husband might have caused it. Others have said she might have been exposed to harmful levels of radon gas, as are tens of thousands of others every year. Perhaps some unknown chemical exposure caused it. Whatever the cause, it's important that our awareness of lung cancer in women be heightened. Lung cancer kills more women every year than breast cancer, yet breast cancer receives much more research funding and awareness. Perhaps that is the one good thing that will come out of Dana Reeve's passing: the realization that lung cancer is not just a "smoker's disease" and that it is a bigger threat to women than breast cancer.
Posted by Tracy on March 9, 2006 03:50 AM
Yeah, one does connect lung cancer with smoking. True, that her death "hopefully" makes more people aware. Sad, it might have taken her death to make people aware.