Sept. 25 has been officially designated as World Lung Day since 2016 and it reminds us about the importance of maintaining healthy airways.
“Clean air and healthy lungs for all” is this year’s theme. This is intended to highlight the importance of air quality for respiratory health. Contaminated air raises the risk of contracting lung diseases significantly.
World Lung Day is organized by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS). The Global Initiative for Asthma (GIA), the American Thoracic Society and several other organizations helped found the forum. According to these groups, climate change is another major driver of air pollution and disease.
“Rising air pollution and ground-level ozone, linked to greenhouse gas emissions, are diminishing lung function, increasing hospitalizations for respiratory diseases, and elevating the risk of lung cancer,” FIRS President, Patricia Rivera, said Wednesday.
The need for improved lung health is most significant in highly polluted countries like India. A 2017 Global Burden of Disease study found that the nation accounted for 15.7 per cent of the world’s cases of chronic respiratory diseases.
Countries such as Chad, Pakistan and Iraq are known to have some of the worst air pollution in the world too. Despite some nations having worse air quality than others, the World Health Organization says 99 per cent of the Earth’s population breathe unhealthy air.
Hungary is known to have the highest rate of lung cancer globally. About 9,000 people die from the disease every year in the European nation.
On #WorldLungDay, we celebrate the power of our lungs to #KeepBreathing 🫁
Yet millions of Europeans suffer from preventable #lungdiseases.
European Lung Health Group calls for a strong #lunghealth policy to tackle this #respiratory crisis ➡️https://t.co/sNswuKok8K pic.twitter.com/qJIepUEWV1
— European Lung Health Group (@EuroLungHealth) September 25, 2024
Read more: Breath Diagnostics takes aim at lung cancer with One Breath
Read more: Breath Diagnostics pioneers novel lung cancer breath test
What can a person do to improve their lung health?
Abstaining from smoking is one of the most obvious ways to breathe better and limit your chances of contracting lung cancer or other conditions. Also, avoiding second-hand smoke, engaging with breathing exercises, practising good posture and staying hydrated.
Getting tested for lung cancer regularly is a smart decision too. Unfortunately however, screening for this disease has historically been time-consuming, complicated and invasive. In addition to these undesirable qualities, a low-dose CT scan, the most common testing method in North America, also involves the use of radiation.
A 2022 study from the American Lung Association (ALA) found that only 5.8 per cent of eligible Americans have been screened for lung cancer. This number is as low as 1 per cent in certain states, the organization says.
Breath and blood testing among best options
To combat this issue, certain companies like Kentucky’s Breath Diagnostics Inc. have been developing convenient and minimally invasive testing methods. This medical tech developer has created a quick and efficient means of testing patients for the disease by simply getting them to breathe into a bag and sending it to a lab for analysis.
Meanwhile, others like San Diego’s Nucleix have been fine-tuning accurate liquid biopsy tests that provide precise diagnostics by taking a blood sample. Switzerland’s pharmaceutical operator Roche Holdings AG (OTCMKTS: RHHBY) has been excelling in this regard too.
Atlantic Canada just started using liquid biopsies instead of invasive tissue biopsies or low-dose CT scans.
Though not as important as preventing pollution and quitting smoking, regular exercise and eating well are important for maintaining clean airways.
rowan@mugglehead.com
