April 17–23 Listen to the message
Dana Reeve
The recent passing from lung cancer of non-smoker Dana Reeve, widow of Christopher Reeve, was the latest in a shocking series of events involving the disease.
ABC News anchor Peter Jennings’s death last August saddened many of us who had grown accustomed to his voice and face. Reeve’s announcement two days later that she too had been diagnosed, despite never smoking, seemed cruel and unusual.
It was.
As Peter Jennings pointed out when he announced his disease, it was his decade-long smoking habit that was responsible. This is almost always the case.
Ninety percent of lung cancer deaths in this country are directly tied to smoking. Not smoking is still the single most effective way to achieve good health.
Dana Reeve and other non-smokers who develop and die from lung cancer must be recognized as the exception and not the rule. We should honor their memories, and that of Peter Jennings, by not smoking.
This is Dr. Bruce Feinberg. Be well.
