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

Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, has had many routine medical follow-ups since her 2004 breast cancer diagnosis. And all of them -- until just a few days ago -- resulted in what is generally termed a clean bill of health.

The term doesn't always come with a sense of relief for those of us surviving breast cancer -- or any cancer for that matter -- because it only really defines what our bodies are telling us at one specific moment. There are no magic blood tests, no special body scans, no conclusive ways of determining whether or not cancerous cells have gone astray and will one day surface again.

I asked my oncologist after my first six-month follow-up how he would know if my cancer returns. He told me it's really up to me to determine whether it comes back. It's up to me to get mammograms and ultrasounds and MRIs. It's up to me to report any symptoms and suspicions. It's up to me to track my general well-being so that it will be clear when something feels not-so-right. If I have a persistent cough or headaches that won't subside, my doctor will take action with X-rays and scans and tests. But as long as I feel fine and nothing troubling presents itself, then I remain in the clean-bill-of-health club.

Edwards no longer has a clean bill of health. But she is determined to use her newest diagnosis -- stage four metastatic cancer of the bones, considered treatable but not curable -- to work toward the best health she can acquire for as long as she can hold onto it. And that is about as good as any of us can do.

The January 2007 issue of Reader's Digest is full of little tidbits of health news. Like how patients are losing patience with hospital emergency rooms.

In an effort to cut the waiting time for ER patients -- the average wait time is three hours and 42 minutes -- some hospitals are offering incentives. One Ohio hospital is giving $25 gift cards to those made to wait longer than 30 minutes. Patients at three Virginia hospitals get a pair of movie tickets if they are not treated in 30 minutes, and a Nevada hospital is cutting fees for those who are not seen by a nurse within 15 minutes of arrival. The incentives appear to be working. One hospital cites a new wait average of 23 minutes and new patient satisfaction score of 90 percent.

In other Reader's Digest news, it is reported that people who weigh themselves daily as part of a diet and fitness routine are more likely to regain lost pounds than those who avoid the scale. And in another news brief, information about the transnasal esophagoscopy (TNE) is shared.

The TNE is an esophageal cancer screening procedure worth some attention. Few know about it's merits yet it may be a tool allowing earlier detection of a cancer often caught too late. It's a less risky procedure than tests requiring sedation, and the whole process is quite simiple. It merely involves numbing of the nose and insertion of an endoscope and tiny camera through the nostrils so pictures of the esophagus can be taken. This test is not recommended for symptom-free individuals -- just for those with a persistent cough or hoarseness, which are early signs of the disease.

There's more where all this comes from -- hiding among the pages of this month's Reader's Digest. So take a peek -- try a visit to www.rd.com -- because you're likely to find something geared just for you.