"If you've got lungs you can develop lung cancer"

Manx charity urging Island to turn blue in final days of Lung Cancer Awareness Month

“If you have lungs you can develop lung cancer.”

That’s the message from a Manx charity which is asking people to show their support for the final days of Lung Cancer Awareness Month by turning blue.

The Roy Castle Lung Foundation wants Island residents to decorate their office or home in blue or wear the colour to raise awareness.  

Lung cancer is the highest cancer killer on the Isle of Man. 

Some of the symptoms include: 

• chest pains
• wheezing
• a lingering cough 
• coughing up phlegm or blood
• vomiting
• high blood pressure
• high blood sugar
• confusion
• a lump under the shoulder blade or neck
• finger clubbing (the flattening and rounding at the end of fingers)
• unexplained backpain higher up in the back as opposed to the lower back 

"Our constant mission is to raise awareness and provide people with information and Lung Cancer Awareness Month helps us reach that wider audience." - Trudi Hudson

If a person is diagnosed within stage one or stage two there's a 73 per cent chance of surviving longer than five years.

Fundraising Officer Trudi Hudson told Manx Radio the initiative is an excuse for people to get the Christmas decorations out in November: