Some people may have noticed the really harsh radio ads telling people to check in with the doc if they've been coughing for more than three weeks as they may have lung cancer. I have no particular opinion on this - on the one hand, getting people in for earlier and more effective treatment for cancer/bronchitis/pneumonia/whatever has to be a good thing. On the other hand, an under-staffed NHS having to deal with lots of people coming in with nothing-in-particular is not such a good thing.

However, a medical professional I know has the opinion that the whole campaign is nothing more than a statistics exercise. He posits that persistant coughing is one of the final stages lung cancer, and a cure at that point is not a realistic outcome, but that it can be treated to give a longer life expectancy. Therefore, the campaign must solely be aimed at presenting statistics that raise the average time between diagnosis and death from a few weeks to a few months.

There is of course the argument that every extra day of life is worth it. This same professional's observations are that in the main, those who have managed to extend have their family around and supporting, but have no real quality of life, and those who don't know until the final days/hours/ever, have a very good quality of life, but will likely lack in family presence/support.

Makes you think.