Written By: Debjani Arora | Published : April 2, 2018 2:39 PM IST
There was a time when it was believed that the prime reason for suffering from lung cancer was tobacco and only smokers suffered from this deadly disease. However, in the past two decades, it seems that more number of non-smokers are falling prey to this cancer. This made the medical fraternity concerned and experts started to look deep for reasons that could lead to lung cancer in non-smokers. Observations and research revealed that one of the many reasons why people were becoming susceptible to lung cancer was environmental pollution. Given that most of our cities are heavily polluted with toxins send out by vehicles and factories this hypothesis cannot be ignored completely. Here an expert explains why women and non-smokers are falling prey to lung cancer.
The toxins send out into the environment are dangerous and potent. Imagine a baby being born in such a heavily polluted area and breathing in those toxins for 30 years of life starting from day one of his life, it is inevitable that his lungs take a toll. This is also a reason why in the current scenario patients in their 20s and 30s are getting affected. Around two decades back lung cancer was predominantly a cancer that was for the ailing and old in their 50s or 60s. Here are few faqs on lung cancer that needs attention.
We spoke to Dr Arvind Kumar, Chairman, Center for Chest Surgery and Director, Institute of Robotic Surgery at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) New Delhi to know exactly how is environmental pollution responsible for the increase in lung cancer patients in India. Previously, lung cancer was somewhere placed 4th or 5th in terms of overall cancer incidence but today it has scaled up to become the no 1 cancer in Indian men and also the number of women suffering from the same is rapidly increasing, says Dr Kumar.
Here is how pollution affects the lungs:
The most worrisome factor is the presence of high levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) an air pollutant in the atmosphere that has a damaging effect on people s health. These fine particulate matter or PM 2.5 are tiny particles in the air that reduce visibility and cause the air to appear hazy when levels are elevated. PM 2.5 particles are a mixture of solids and liquid droplets floating in the air. These particles can be less than or equal to 10 micrometres in diameter and have the potential to get into your lungs when you inhale bad quality air. They are also responsible for causing serious health problems. Read to know why infants are at risk of infection.
There is a conversion which says when you inhale PM 2.5 weighing around 22.5mg it s damaging effect is equivalent to that of smoking one cigarette. If you inhale PM 2.5 of say 200mg then it s equal to about smoking 10 cigarettes a day. So if somebody is born and living in a city with an average air PM 2.5 of 200 +, the damaging effects that his lungs are subjected to by inhaling the air is like smoking 10 cigarettes a day. So this is what is leading to rising in lung cancer. It s not only about lung cancer all other lung diseases like Asthma, COPD, Bullous Lung Diseases, Pneumothorax, including infections as well as Tuberculosis which tend to occur with higher frequency in the polluted damaged lung, all the lung problems are on the rise and the cause is increasing air pollution, he says.
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