Smokers Health Problems

health problems, smoking disease

Ever had the habit? What you need to know about screening tests for lung diseases.

Although people 60 and older smoke less than other age groups, they are more likely than younger people to have smoked before. Unfortunately, once you quit, your risk of cigarette-linked health problems, although reduced, don’t totally disappear. That’s why former smokers need to know the facts about important screening tests that can catch lung disorders at an early stage.

Spirometry for COPD

“The National Lung Health Education Program has recently advised that anyone over the age of 40 with any history of regular smoking should have a spirometry test for lung function,” says Christopher B. Cooper, MD, Medical Director of the UCLA COPD Center. “It can indicate whether you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which can progress in some cases to emphysema.” Often associated with a history of smoking, emphysema is a serious, chronic lung disease which primarily strikes people 65 and older and produces wheezing and coughing. It results from damaged alveoli (air sacs) in the lungs that are unable to fill with fresh air. COPD includes both chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and claims more than 120,000 lives in the U.S each year, according to the American Lung Association.

A spirometry test can help diagnose COPD early so that you can get proper treatment and help counteract it before it produces shortness of breath that ruins your quality of life. In the test, you simply breathe into a mouthpiece connected to an instrument called a spirometer. The amount of air that you breathe normally and your rate of breathing over a specified time are recorded, as are the amount of air you can forcefully inhale and exhale.

CT screening for lung cancer

Wiki said:

“Lung cancer, or carcinoma of the lung, is a disease where epithelial (internal lining) tissue in the lung grows out of control. This leads to metastasis, invasion of adjacent tissue and infiltration beyond the lungs. Lung cancer, the most common cause of cancer-related death in men and the second most common in women, is responsible for 1.3 million deaths worldwide annually. The most common symptoms are shortness of breath, coughing (including coughing up blood), and weight loss.
The main types of lung cancer are small cell lung carcinoma and non-small cell lung carcinoma. This distinction is important because the treatment varies; non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is sometimes treated with surgery, while small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) usually responds better to chemotherapy.
The most common cause of lung cancer is exposure to tobacco smoke. The occurrence of lung cancer in non-smokers, who account for fewer than 10% of cases, appears to be due to a combination of genetic factors.  Radon gas, asbestos, and air pollution  may also contribute to lung cancer.
Lung cancer may be seen on chest x-ray and computed tomography (CT scan). The diagnosis is confirmed with a biopsy. This is usually performed via bronchoscopy or CT-guided biopsy.
Treatment and prognosis depend upon the histological type of cancer, the stage (degree of spread), and the patient’s performance status. Possible treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. With treatment, the five-year survival rate is 14%”

Evidence from a National Institutes of Health-funded study suggests smokers and former smokers age 60 and older may also benefit from computed tomography (CT) screening for lung cancer. This low-radiation, non-invasive test, which takes only 20 seconds to perform, has the potential to detect lung cancer at the earliest, most curable stage - even before it can be spotted on traditional X-rays.

The current five-year survival rate for lung cancer is only 14 percent. However, results of the Early Lung Cancer Action Program (ELCAP), the first major study of baseline screening by low-dose CT in smokers and former smokers age 60 and older, indicate survival rates could soar to 80 percent if smokers and former smokers received annual CT exams to detect early-stage lung cancer.

admin @ October 27, 2007