A 10-year-old girl was diagnosed with lung cancer! It turned out that it was the family's habits that harmed her!

According to the Chongqing University Cancer Hospital, two teenage lung cancer patients were admitted to the hospital within six months, both girls. Neither of them had the habit of smoking.

The first girl was 15 years old. Her parents took her to the hospital for examination due to long-term cough. Nodules were found in her lungs. After surgical resection, it was finally confirmed that she had early-stage lung cancer.

The second girl was 14 years old. She had lung nodules detected during a physical examination when she was 13 years old, but she did not pay enough attention to it at that time. Although her great-grandfather had lung cancer, her family only became alert when the child felt easily tired and took her to the hospital for examination. It was eventually determined to be advanced lung cancer.

Jiang Yuequan, director of the Thoracic Tumor Center of the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Chongqing University, said that both girls’ families have a serious smoking environment, and the male family members smoke at home every day. “Long-term exposure to secondhand smoke is a high-risk group for lung cancer, even if there is no family history.”

Secondhand smoke is more harmful than smoking

"Breathing secondhand smoke is more harmful than smoking!" Wan Liping, director of the Tobacco Control Office of the Lanzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Gansu Province, said in an interview with Lanzhou Evening News in 2022, "The most intuitive understanding is that smokers at least have to purify themselves through filters, while secondhand smoke is directly inhaled."

"Since children's ability to metabolize toxic and harmful substances is much lower than that of adults, they are more susceptible to the harm of secondhand smoke," said Nie Xiaohong, chief physician of the Department of Internal Medicine at the 416 Nuclear Industry Hospital.

1. Brain damage

Evidence shows that exposure to secondhand smoke causes the most direct damage to children's lungs and brain. Children's brain cells have a high metabolism and require a large amount of oxygen, but they cannot get enough oxygen in the smoke, which has a greater impact on brain cells.

2. Damage to the lungs

Children's bronchial tubes are relatively straight, so the toxins in smoke can easily enter the alveoli and accumulate in the alveoli, affecting the airway mucosa, ventilation function and immune function. If children are exposed to cigarette smoke for a long time every day, their risk of developing lung cancer in adulthood is three times that of children who are not exposed to passive smoking. It can also increase the risk of airway diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary heart disease and affect heart function.

3. Damage to the stomach

If you are frequently exposed to secondhand smoke, nicotine will enter your stomach and easily cause problems with your digestive system. In particular, the more you inhale, the greater the damage to your stomach mucosa. Over time, the chance of gastritis will increase.

4. Damage to the liver

The liver is an important detoxification site in the body. After the toxic substances contained in secondhand smoke enter the body, the liver needs to detoxify. The longer you are surrounded by secondhand smoke, the more toxic substances you inhale, the slower your lipid metabolism will be, which will put a great burden on the liver.

5. Ear damage

People who are often exposed to secondhand smoke will also suffer from hearing damage. A survey has shown that if a person is often in a secondhand smoke environment, the chance of hearing loss will increase by 30% compared to normal healthy people. This is mainly because the various organs in our body are connected. After the harmful substances in the smoke enter the body, it will cause damage to our eardrums, and hearing will easily decline over time.

Stay away from second-hand and third-hand smoke

For the health of your family and yourself, the best way is to not smoke!

Many people think that even if they don’t smoke indoors or in front of children, they can choose to smoke as much as they want in an open outdoor smoking area or balcony, and only go into the house when they think the smoke on their body has dissipated. This should have no effect on the children, right?

Actually not!

Because no matter where you smoke, the toxic substances hidden in your clothes, hair, nails, and skin will stay in your body for a long time. When smoking parents hug their children, these substances will be transferred to their children. This is the terrible "third-hand smoke."

In a smoking family, the intelligence level of children will be affected to a certain extent. According to the latest scientific research, children who inhale "third-hand smoke" will have their intelligence level reduced. This is mainly due to a toxic and harmful substance called "cotinine" that remains on the parents' bodies after smoking. When parents come into contact with their children, it will be transferred to the children's bodies and penetrate into the children's blood through the skin. If the content of "cotinine" in the children's blood increases, it will hinder the development of children's intelligence to a certain extent.

(Source: Health Times)