Lung Foundation New Zealand observes lung health month and lung cancer awareness month during November.

We thought we would begin by sharing some lung facts that remind us how important our/your lungs are;

Lungs are the only internal organs that are constantly exposed to the environment

The average person breathes about 11,000 litres of air per day

We can survive; 3 weeks without food; 3 days without water; but survive ONLY 3 minutes without air (oxygen)

Some important statistics;

More than 700,000 New Zealanders are affected by lung disease and almost 12 deaths everyday are the result of lung disease.

1 in 10 New Zealanders are at risk of pneumonia simply due to their age. People over the age of 65 face increased risk of infection due to age related decline of the immune system.

Lung cancer is New Zealand’s biggest cancer killer – Five kiwis every day die of lung cancer.

More people die of lung cancer, than of breast cancer, prostate cancer and melanoma combined.

Lung cancer is a major women’s health issue – it kills more women in NZ than breast cancer.

Lung cancer does not discriminate – even healthy people can develop lung cancer

Our Key Lung Health Messages

1. Lung disease can affect anyone.
2. See a doctor if you have a persistent cough, shortness of
breath, chest pains or noisy breathing.
3. Lung disease can be treated. The earlier you start
treatment the better.
4. Look after your lungs. Be active and don’t smoke

We invite you our valued readers to be a lung health champion, by sharing our lung health poster to increase awareness about the symptoms of lung disease and save lives by improving early detection.