Why are more and more Chinese women who don't smoke getting lung cancer? How can we prevent lung cancer?

Lung cancer is the world's number one cancer. Cancer data released in 2019 showed that one in every five cancer deaths was related to lung cancer.

In my country, lung cancer is the malignant tumor with the highest morbidity and mortality rate. For a long time, people have closely linked smoking with lung cancer. 60% of men in my country smoke, while the proportion of women who smoke is less than 10%, but the ratio of lung cancer between the two is close to 1:1. In particular, in recent years, the incidence of lung cancer in non-smoking women in China has increased year by year. What exactly causes this result?

Women do not smoke, but they are suffering from the harm of secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke, also known as passive smoking, refers to the mixed smoke formed by the tobacco smoke released by the burning end of cigarettes or other tobacco or exhaled by smokers. In simple terms, although you do not smoke, you inhale the smoke exhaled by others or in the environment.

According to a study by the World Health Organization, nearly 740 million people in China are exposed to secondhand smoke every day, and about 100,000 people die from secondhand smoke exposure every year. Long-term exposure to secondhand smoke increases the likelihood of lung cancer. Although there are few women who smoke in China, the harm they suffer from their husbands or family members smoking is no less than that of smoking.

Women do not smoke, but they are exposed to kitchen fumes for a long time. "Men work outside, women work inside" has always been the tradition of the Chinese nation. Even today when men and women are equal, many girls will go to the kitchen to cook as soon as they get off work. What many people don't know is that kitchen fumes in real life are potentially dangerous.

Numerous studies have shown that kitchen fumes are a potential carcinogen and can cause a variety of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The National Cancer Institute conducted a 15-year dynamic follow-up using a prospective cohort study and found that people with poor kitchen ventilation had a 49% increased risk of lung cancer compared to those with good ventilation, and that incomplete combustion of fuel was also associated with lung cancer.

Chinese people like to cook over high flames, which makes cooking more likely to produce fumes. After a month of continuous exposure to fumes in mice, the inflammatory cells in the mice's lungs increased significantly. After three months of continuous exposure to low-concentration fumes, nodules were seen on the mice's lungs. Therefore, long-term exposure to kitchen fumes greatly increases the possibility of lung cancer in women.

Women do not smoke, but they are more likely to have gene mutations. Last year, the movie "Dying to Survive" introduced people to gene-targeted drugs. So-called gene-targeted drugs are therapeutic drugs for cancers with gene site mutations. In recent years, clinical studies have found that the onset of lung cancer is related to specific types of gene mutations, including EGFR, ALK, KRAS, HER2 and other gene mutations. People have found that compared with men, Asian non-smoking women have a higher rate of gene mutations. In other words, Asian non-smoking women are at a higher risk of developing lung cancer (especially adenocarcinoma) than men.

Of course, gene mutation is not entirely a bad thing, because we have produced gene-targeted drugs for mutations in gene loci, and many lung cancer patients have significantly controlled their tumors with gene-targeted drugs after conventional treatments such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy have failed to work. Nowadays, gene-targeted drugs have developed to the fourth generation, and I believe that as people conduct in-depth research, better drugs to inhibit lung cancer will be available.

The deteriorating environment also harms Chinese women. The most famous event in world history in which the environment seriously harmed people's respiratory system was the London smog incident in 1952. At that time, London was called the "fog city". The exhaust gas above the city was difficult to diffuse, and many residents experienced symptoms such as chest tightness and suffocation. In just two months, more than 8,000 people died in London in this smog.

In recent years, words such as smog and PM2.5 have become increasingly popular. The dark sky caused by smog and the PM2.5 levels that often exceed the limit have greatly increased people's risk of cancer.

How to effectively prevent lung cancer? 1. Stay away from secondhand smoke

Male friends who are still smoking, for the sake of their beloved wives, try to quit smoking, which will help both husband and wife. If you really can't quit, you must go to the toilet or kitchen to smoke. In addition, it is recommended not to smoke at dinner parties with ladies present.

2. Install a range hood

Since kitchen fumes are very harmful to women, you must install a range hood in the kitchen. After cooking each time, let the range hood continue to work for ten to fifteen minutes until the kitchen fumes are completely dissipated.

Be sure to install a range hood

3. Eat a healthy diet and control the oil temperature

Since oil fumes are very harmful to the human body, it is better to control the oil temperature and try to change from stir-frying to steaming, which will greatly reduce exposure to oil fumes.

4. Regular physical examination

Many non-smoking Asian women suffer from lung adenocarcinoma. This type of lung cancer appears as ground-glass nodules in the early stages. If it can be detected and removed early, the cure rate is almost 100%. Therefore, early screening for lung cancer must be done, and low-dose spiral CT should be selected during physical examinations to ensure early detection and early treatment.

Summary: The incidence of lung cancer among non-smoking women in China is increasing year by year, which is closely related to the harm of secondhand smoke, kitchen fumes, gene mutations and environmental pollution. As Chinese women, we must stay away from secondhand smoke, install range hoods, eat a healthy diet, and have regular physical examinations to stay away from lung cancer.