Did you know the number one symptom of lung cancer is a persistent cough? Other symptoms include bouts of wheezing, shortness of breath, trouble swallowing, blood-streaked sputum, and a hoarse voice.

Did you know 28 percent of all cancer deaths are due to lung cancer and that it's the number one killer among both men and women?

Did you know that Hookahs -- used to inhale tobacco through a water pipe -- let in the same cancer-causing substances as cigarettes and are just as harmful as smoking, despite the fact that many people believe they are safer?

Now you know.

Source: WebMD: the Magazine, March/April 2007

On Friday, Walgreen Co. was ordered by a jury to pay $25.8 million to the family of a cancer patient given a medication that caused a stroke and then several years later, death.

Beth Hippely was prescribed Warfarin, a blood thinner, in 2002 while being treated for breast cancer. According to court documents, the prescription she received at a Walgreen's pharmacy was 10 times what it should have been. The overdose caused a cerebral hemorrhage which led to permanent bodily injury, disability, pain, and then death. Hippely, a mother of three, died at the age of 46. Apparently, the error occurred when a 19-year-old pharmacy technician misfiled the prescription.

Hippely's family has been seeking justice for five years.

I heard today on the radio that there's a shortage of blood supply here in Gainesville, Florida. Reserves are so low there's barely enough blood to last one full day at a time. LifeSouth Community Blood Centers reports about this emergency blood shortage on their website.

"The blood supply stands at less than a one-day supply which has blood center officials very concerned," writes John David Larkin Nolen, LifeSouth's Medical Director. "All eligible residents are asked to give blood. Blood donations haven't kept pace with demand and we've had a very tight supply for the past few weeks. But today several patient situations involving children and adults facing life threatening medical conditions depleted the reserve supplies. We're worried about our overall ability to make sure the patients that need blood will receive what they need during the next few days."

I wish I could donate my blood, but I can't. Until I've been free from cancer treatment for five years, no none wants it. But maybe you can help. Try tracking down your local blood center and see what you can do to help. It may just be the gift that saves a life.

Bill Walsh, builder of an NFL dynasty with his 49ers of the 1980s, died of leukemia Monday at his San Francisco Bay. Walsh, known as The Genius for his innovative, pass-oriented attack, was 75.

Walsh was 102-63-1 with the 49ers and won three Super Bowls and six divisional titles in just 10 years. He was named Coach of the Year in 1981 and 1984 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993. He served twice as the 49ers' general manager and coached at Stanford after leaving the 49ers.

"His coaching accomplishments speak for themselves, but the essence of Bill Walsh was he was an extraordinary teacher," says NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. "If you gave him a blackboard and a piece of chalk, he would become a whirlwind of wisdom. He revolutionized the game with his offense and will always be remembered as one of the most influential people in NFL history."

OK, women of the world. Grab some paper and a pen and jot down this list of seven check-ups every woman needs. Don't just write them down, though. Make sure you take action on each and every one. They might just save your life.

1. Start with your weight, height, and BMI (body mass index). The scores you get on these simple tests are important because many conditions and diseases are associated with being overweight or underweight.

2. Check your blood pressure, and find out where you stand because hypertension is a disease with no symptoms. High blood pressure puts you at risk for cardiovascular disease -- but there are very effective treatments for this condition.

Venous Thromboembolism, also know as a blood clot, is something that cancer patients should be aware. There is now a medicine approved for recurrent blood clots by the Food and Drug Administration called Fragmin. Fragmin is a type of heparin, for long term prevention of blood clots.

Blood clots form when red blood cells, platelets, white blood cells and other blood components form a mass within the blood vessel that can block the flow of blood back to the heart.

Chemotherapy treatments and hormonal treatments can increase the risk of blood clots occurring. Talk to your doctor, especially if you have a personal or family history of blood clots. A blood thinner might be recommended.

Symptoms can include:

• swelling
• warmth
• pain or redness in your legs
• chest pain
• trouble breathing

If you have any of these symptoms call your physician right away.

The National Cancer Institute shows studies have found the following risk factors for bladder cancer.

1. Age - The chance of bladder cancer goes up as you get older and is rarely found in anyone under 40 years old.
2. Tobacco - Cigarette smokers are three times more likely than non smokers to develop bladder cancer.
3. Occupations - People who work in these professions or who handle these products have a higher risk of developing bladder cancer. Rubber, chemical, leather, textile, printers, painters, machinists, metal workers, hairdressers, and truck drivers.
4. Infections - Certain parasites increase the risk of bladder cancer.
5. Race - Whites get bladder cancer twice as often as African Americans and Hispanics. The lowest risks are Asians.
6. Gender - Men are three time more likely to develop bladder cancer which may be because of the above occupational risks.
7. Chlorine - By products of chlorine are being closely studied.
8. Saccharin - The artificial sweetener has shown to cause cancer in animals and is being studied closer for the risks on humans.

If you have blood in your urine, pain during urination, or frequent urination or the feel the need to urinate often, please discuss your concern with a doctor. Early detection of bladder cancer has been a proven factor in the survival rate of this disease.

Axitinib is an agent that targets angiogenesis -- blood supply to a tumor. It disrupts blood vessels that grow and provide nutrients to cancer cells. Without the nutrients and oxygen supplied by blood vessels, cancer cells cannot grow or replicate.

Researchers conducted a trial to evaluate axitinib in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Patients were either given Taxotere or Taxotere plus axitinib. Anticancer responses were achieved in 40 percent of patients treated with the addition of axitinib to Taxotere, compared with only 23 percent of patients treated with Taxotere alone.

The researchers concluded -- that the addition of axitinib to Taxotere improves anticancer responses and delays cancer progression compared to Taxotere alone in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer.

If you eat a lot of things with a high glycemic load, which is a measurement of how quickly food raises your blood sugar, you may have problems not only related to diabetes or being over weight, but you could run a higher risk of colorectal cancer. A Harvard Medical School study involving 38,000 women saw an increased risk of colon cancer related to the white foods like pasta, white rice, white bread, potatoes, and pastries. The lower glycemic load foods like whole wheat bread or multi grain breads and brown rice comes with fiber. Another Harvard study showed an increase in the risk of pancreatic cancer in women who are overweight and sedentary.

Nasopharyngeal cancer is most prevalent in South China and kills one in every three victims. The disease is thought to be linked to diets rich in preserved foods, like salted fish.

Scientists will soon test an experimental treatment for nose and throat cancer that will train the patient's own white blood cells to fight the disease. Some classes of T-cells have memory. Once these cells are taken from the patient and are exposed to invaders that they successfully fought off, they should launch the same response when they are re-introduced back into the patients own body.

One of the researchers stated "We expect the T-cells to initiate a very aggressive inflammatory reaction and during the process, not only will the T-cells attack the cancer cells, but other immune cells in the body will be called in to eradicate the cancer cells".

As if being involved in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centers wasn't horrific enough, it's now appearing as if people present at the WTC on that world-changing day have higher than normal rates of lymphatic and blood cancers, as reported on our sister site, That's Fit. This comes as a particularly harsh blow, since it's also been shown that 70% of this group also suffers from respiratory illnesses. But the true impact of this correlation won't be evident for years to come, when the disease may become present in many not currently affected.

I can't help but be reminded of the aftermath of the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII, when what was at first a tragedy of epic proportions was made by the realization that people would continue to suffer the effects for many years to come.

The world is such a cruel, unfair place sometimes.

The two little girls who recently fashioned their own cardboard lemonade stand and sold their homemade refreshments for 50 cents a cup are not your typical lemonade entrepreneurs. What makes them stand out from the usual crowd of lemonade peddlers? These girls -- Emily is four and Lily is six -- are both cancer patients, undergoing chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia and raising money for cancer research.

The two met last year at the Omaha Children's Hospital cancer clinic. Their mothers became fast friends, worked together on a neighborhood garage sale, and invited the little girls to set up a lemonade stand. The idea came from the story of another little girl, diagnosed with cancer just before her first birthday, who at age four opened her own stand with the goal of raising $1 million for her hospital. Only days before she died did she realize she would reach her goal.

How did Emily and Lily do? The totals are not yet in -- but they did raise $70 right away on the first day of the sale. And they reportedly had a grand time running their business.

Shorter courses of radiation therapy may be in order for women with early-stage breast cancer. And the largest study to test this suggests the abbreviated treatment time in no way affects risk of recurrence.

Often, the greatest hassle of radiation is getting to and from appointments, every weekday, for many weeks. With less frequent visits, life could get a whole lot easier.

Dr. John Dewar of the University of Dundee in Scotland led a two-part study of nearly 4,500 women in the United Kingdom to test courses of radiation and found five years later that cancer recurrences were low -- about two to five percent -- for women who received both longer and shorter durations of therapy. There were so few recurrences -- 158 -- that doctors believe the treatments are equivalent. They just can't say this with certainty yet.

This is great news for patients traveling great distances to their treatment facilities. Other benefits of shorter radiation timelines are less swelling and shrinkage of breast tissue and less enlargement of blood vessels.

I keep writing about skin cancer, specifically melanoma, because I'm a little obsessed about it. I guess the seriousness of the disease is finally sinking in and making me think.

I want you to think about it too. I want you to stay out of the sun, cover up, dress yourself in sunscreen, report for annual skin cancer screenings, and arm yourself with knowledge.

If you are not convinced by my words alone, please watch this video about how melanoma spreads -- how it breaks away from its original location and metastasizes throughout the bloodstream and lymphatic system, landing in other parts of the body. Melanoma is the deadliest from of skin cancer. This video proves it.

In today's world, we worry about carbohydrates. We monitor them, count them, obsess about them, and pare them down to just about nothing in order to lose weight. Yet, quality carbs have a fierce power in the fight against disease. They are packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber. They absorb slowly and stabilize blood sugar, appetite, even mood. Carbs don't have to be avoided. In fact, they should be embraced -- in their most healthy forms.

While at the Canyon Ranch resort in Tucson this past April, I observed that all meals are balanced with small-to-moderate portion sizes of carbohydrate foods. Canyon Ranch is all about health and healing. If the experts here say carbs can be good for us, I believe them.

The key to carb management is knowing which ones keep cancer and other disease at bay. It's simple, really. Just think whole fruit, vegetables, beans, and modest amounts of whole grains.