A young woman who often stayed up late was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. Do you have these habits too?

When "staying up late" becomes the norm in modern life, and "lying down" becomes the leisure choice of many people, do we realize that these seemingly harmless lifestyle habits may be quietly bringing us closer to cancer? Recently, a news report that "a 32-year-old woman often stayed up late and had unbearable chest pain, and was eventually diagnosed with advanced lung cancer" attracted public attention. This makes us reflect: Why would a young woman who does not smoke suffer from such a serious disease? How can we prevent the occurrence of lung cancer?

Staying up late is addictive, and the body is ringing the alarm bell

Xiaohua is a workshop worker at a garment factory in Xiaoshan, Hangzhou. She usually works diligently and energetically. However, she has a very bad habit - staying up late. After the night shift, she often orders a bunch of barbecues and plays games while eating until late at night. The weekend is the best time for her to "catch up on sleep". She often sleeps until the afternoon and then continues to stay up late to play games. This irregular lifestyle has gradually overdrawn her body.

About a year ago, Xiaohua began to have intermittent fever and dry cough symptoms. At first, she didn't care and simply took some antipyretics and cephalosporins to deal with it. However, as time went on, the symptoms gradually became difficult to relieve and became more and more severe. It was not until a few days ago that she went to the hospital for treatment accompanied by a colleague because of unbearable pain in the left chest. After examination, the chest CT results showed that there was a mass of about 9.1*5.9cm in the left lower lung. After further examination, she was finally diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.

So, why do young women who don't smoke also get lung cancer? Modern young people generally face problems such as high work pressure and a fast pace of life. They often need to work overtime and stay up late, which causes the body to be in a state of overwork for a long time. This state of overwork will directly affect the body's immune system, weaken its function, and reduce its resistance to carcinogenic factors. If this continues for a long time, it will increase the risk of malignant tumors such as lung cancer. As a garment factory worker, Xiaohua often needs to work the night shift and stay up late, which undoubtedly increases her risk of physical overwork, which may in turn affect the function of her immune system.

In addition, as an industrial environment, garment factories may contain a variety of harmful chemicals and pollutants such as dust. Long-term exposure of these substances to the workers' respiratory system may cause damage to lung cells, thereby increasing the risk of lung cancer. As a workshop worker, Xiaohua has been in such an environment for a long time and is likely to be harmed by these harmful substances.

Lung cancer ranks first in the world again, with half of the patients in my country

According to the latest data from the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer, lung cancer has once again surpassed breast cancer to become the cancer with the highest incidence rate in the world. It is estimated that about 1 in 5 people will encounter cancer in their lifetime, and about 1 in 9 men and 1 in 12 women will die from cancer. In China, lung cancer ranks first in both incidence and mortality .

It is worth noting that although smoking is still the primary cause of lung cancer, about a quarter of lung cancer cases are not related to smoking. Environmental exposure, especially air pollution, has become an important cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. Although the smoking rate of Chinese women is less than 5%, the incidence of lung cancer is still high, which may be closely related to cooking, solid fuel combustion, air pollution , etc.

Lung cancer has an insidious onset. Clinically, 70% of lung cancers are already in the middle or late stages when diagnosed, missing the best time for treatment and resulting in a poor prognosis. According to data from the National Cancer Center in 2022, the 5-year survival rate of early-stage lung cancer in China is about 75%, while that of late-stage lung cancer is only about 5% . Therefore, early prevention and screening of lung cancer is crucial and is the most effective solution to improve survival rates.

Prevent lung cancer by changing your lifestyle

Faced with the grim situation of lung cancer, we should take positive actions to reduce the risk of disease by adjusting our lifestyle:

1. Eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly: Eat a diverse and balanced diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains and high-quality protein, and limit the intake of red meat and processed foods with high salt and sugar content. At the same time, develop good work and rest habits and avoid working for long periods of time or staying up late to reduce the risk of cancer. In addition, developing a habit of regular exercise can also help prevent cancer. Moderate exercise can not only regulate hormone levels and improve metabolism, but also enhance immunity and reduce chronic inflammation, thereby reducing the risk associated with various cancers.

2. Stay away from carcinogens:

• Avoid exposure to toxic chemicals and carcinogens in industrial environments such as asbestos, heavy metals, etc. For those engaged in high-risk work, safety protection must be ensured.

• Try to open the windows when cooking, use a powerful range hood, and remember to close the bedroom and kitchen doors; after cooking, ventilate the kitchen for a while before opening the door.

• When purchasing furniture, choose environmentally friendly materials to reduce exposure to harmful chemicals.

• In daily life, choose natural and environmentally friendly cleaners and other daily necessities. If you smell a strong odor, you should discard it immediately.

• When eating, avoid using plastic products to hold hot food to prevent toxic substances from being released under high temperatures.

3. Quit smoking and limit alcohol consumption: Quitting smoking is a key measure to prevent cancer, and alcohol intake should also be limited.

4. Regular physical examinations, early diagnosis and early treatment: Cancer is not an incurable disease. The key lies in early detection and early treatment. It is recommended that people over 50 years old undergo low-dose spiral CT lung cancer screening once a year. People with a family history of lung cancer or long-term smokers should undergo early examinations. For other high-risk groups for cancer, regular screening should also be carried out according to individual circumstances.

The above are Dr. Zeqiao’s health headlines. See you tomorrow!

References:

Bray F, Laversanne M, Sung H, et al. Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2024. doi:10.3322/caac.21834.