The American Cancer Society has new recommendations for lung cancer screenings.

More in today's medical news.

Under previous guidelines, the American Cancer Society recommended annual screenings for those 55 to 74 years old, a current smoker or former smoker who quit within the previous 15 years and smoked a pack a day for 30 years.

Now the recommendation is yearly screenings for people ages 50 to 80 who are current or former smokers and smoked at least one pack of cigarets a day for 20 or more years.

We spoke to the American Lung Cancer Association in Kentucky who say it's a welcome change, particularly in our state, where lung cancer deaths are 17% higher than the national average.

The new access guidelines that just came out mean that if you quit smoking more than 15 years ago, you would be under their guidelines, recommended for screening.

Kentucky has the fourth highest smoking rate in the nation, and so it's it's not surprising then that we also have the highest lung cancer incidence and mortality rates in the nation.

It's associated not exclusively so and so it's important to address that because there is stigma around lung cancer and in fact, there are other causes of lung cancer, like exposure to radioactive radon and secondhand smoke and or both.

Even worse still.

So it's the guidelines specifically focus on smoking.

But the point that I make is there are other risk factors as well.

So early detection is critical.

Lung cancer is most often asymptomatic until it's in its more advanced stages and therefore more difficult to effectively treat.

So early detection is the key to better treatment outcomes.

The American Lung Association and the American Cancer Society recommend people talk to their doctor about the benefits, limitations and possible harms before deciding to get a lung screening.