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Healthy lungs are key to your overall health. They help you think clearly, allow your organs and tissues to function smoothly, and help your immune system protect your body.

On a recent Wednesday morning, Nicole Bodey sat with a smile beneath a warm blanket in the Cancer and Infusion Center at Missouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital. Her husband of 57 years, Bud Bodey, sat by her side, as he always does after driving Nicole from their Springfield, Missouri, home to the hospital for her newly approved innovative infusion treatment for early stage Alzheimer’s disease.

Lung cancer screenings have been shown to reduce deaths by 20%-30% in high-risk populations. Learn about who should be screened as well as what to expect during the scan.

In a surgical suite at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, a robotic arm snakes an ultra-thin, ultra-flexible tube through a patient’s airway. Once the tube reaches the lungs, the surgeon operating the device remotely uses a tiny camera to search the area for an abnormal growth, or nodule, that might be cancerous.

The earlier lung cancer is detected, the better the odds are of successful treatment.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid recently adopted new guidelines for lung cancer screening, changing the age at which men and women should start screening and expanding criteria for smoking history.