Can you get lung cancer after 5 years of smoking?

[fedrorpet]

Hi!

I have been smoking for 5 years and I stopped smoking around 2 weeks. What worries me is that for the past year I have basically chest pains and recently I begun having a consistent cough and some an occasional mucus (yellowy/brown). Should I be worried that I have lung cancer? Or could it be something else that I have? Because one thing is for sure... this is a sign that there is something wrong.

 

[VSGM]

U better consult a doctor!

 

[sudunone]

It depends on how heavy your smoking has been. And once you stop smoking, the risk starts to decline gradually-that's why quitting is encouraged. Congratulations for quitting.

There are many other illnesses associated with smoking, for example chronic obstructive airways disease and infections. Infections can be successfully treated and COPD can be controlled.

There are parts of other systems within the chest so the chest pain could be related to other organs as well-for example ulcers in the oesophagus, gastritis. The chest pain that occurs in lung disease is usually associated with breathing. (Smoking can cause illnesses in other systems by the way-such as narrowing of blood vessels, which lead to chest pain associated with heart and strokes, among other things.)

Cough with yellow/brown sputum can be due to an infection. It's best to see a physician and discuss your smoking history and current problems. A few tests, such as tests on your sputum and X rays, will help in finding the problem. My personal opinion is it's unlikely to be a cancer because you've had a chest pain and nothing else for a whole year until recently. (You don't complain of things like weight loss, difficulty in breathing, blood stained sputum etc.)

 

[fedrorpet]

Hi!

I have been smoking for 5 years and I stopped smoking around 2 weeks. What worries me is that for the past year I have basically chest pains and recently I begun having a consistent cough and some an occasional mucus (yellowy/brown). Should I be worried that I have lung cancer? Or could it be something else that I have? Because one thing is for sure... this is a sign that there is something wrong.

thanks..