That sounds bizarre, right? Well, that's just how reality can be at times. Lung cancer is one of the most serious diseases mankind has ever seen, and now you don't have to do anything special to deserve it. Just living in our country's capital is enough.
Delhi is infamous for its air quality for a long time. Rather, research shows that it is the 'World's Most Polluted Capital'. As a result, about 21% of people with lung cancer are below the age of 50. A research report by Sir Ganga Ram Hospital states that, “What is even more disturbing is that 5 of 31 patients in the younger-than-50-year age-group were less than 30-year-old and nearly 50% of the patients were non-smokers.”
Recently, a woman, just 28-years-old, was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung cancer in Delhi. Thanks to her non-smoking family, the girl's chances of getting a lung cancer were very low, let alone the possibility of a Stage 4 cancer. But that's not the case. Doctors suspect the air in the capital to be the culprit.
credit: Wikipedia
Dr. Arvind Kumar, Chest surgeon at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital stated that, "I suspect the reason behind it is polluted and toxic air in Delhi. Polluted air also contains elements found in cigarettes. It isn't an isolated case." He further said, "I have reported such cases earlier too. On an average, I have seen 2-3 lung cancer cases every month in non-smoking individuals in their early 30s. But this is the first case in the 20s."
credit: UNICEF
Research report published by the hospital puts forth an even more alarming fact, “We are only going to see an exponential rise in the incidence of lung cancer. These estimates are staggering and point towards an imminent epidemic of lung cancer that we are about to face”.
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And yes, it's not an issue of just one city. Air quality across India is lowering at a high rate, making most of its 'highly developed' cities unsuitable for a healthy living. In short, controlling air pollution is the need of the hour. And we need to start taking actions at individual levels. Let us know your views in the comment section below!
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