Ventura, CA - November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, and Community Memorial Health System is offering a free lung assessment online screening tool that takes just seven minutes and provides participants information about personal risk for lung disease.

According to the American Cancer Society:

 Lung cancer is the second most common cancer found in men and women (not counting skin cancer).
 About 228,190 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed this year.
 Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among men and women.
 Smoking is the leading risk factor for developing lung cancer.
 There are more than 400,000 lung cancer survivors in the United States today.

Symptoms of lung cancer may include nagging cough that does not go away or gets worse with time, coughing up blood, chest pain, shortness of breath, wheezing or hoarseness, weight loss and loss of appetite and repeated respiratory infections, including pneumonia and bronchitis.

Answer a few simple questions, and participants will be provided with a report of their risk factors and recommendations for improving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. For more information, go to www.cmhshealth.org/healthaware.

In addition, CMHS offers a lung cancer screening program using low dose CT to aid in the early detection of lung cancer. This helps doctors treat the disease in its early stages. Oftentimes, lung cancer is detected in its later stages, making it difficult to treat after it has compromised other parts of the body. Doctors can determine if patients are good candidates for the screening.

Community Memorial Health System is a not-for-profit health system, which is comprised of Community Memorial Hospital, Ojai Valley Community Hospital, and 12 family-practice health centers entitled Centers for Family Health. The health system is located in Ventura County, California.