Halton residents urged to get niggling coughs checked
1:20pm Monday 5th December 2011 in News
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A NIGGLING cough you’ve had for more than three weeks could be a sign of lung cancer, warn health chiefs.
Lung cancer remains the second most common cancer in the UK, after breast cancer, with more than 100 people being diagnosed with the disease every day.
Dr Mel Forrest, a GP who specialises in early detection of cancer at NHS Halton, said: “The symptoms of lung cancer are normally a cough, breathlessness and particularly worryingly, coughing up blood.
“Any changes like this you should get checked out.
“To reduce the death rate from cancer and to save lives, we need to detect cancer in its early stages.
“Cancer is not a life sentence. if it is picked up early, it is treatable and that’s what we want people to understand. not to be frightened of the word cancer but if there’s a suspicion, get it checked.”