The manager of the “Marius Nasta” Pneumophthisiology Institute in Bucharest, Dr. Beatrice Mahler, warns of the serious risks of chronic smoking and the need for a periodic analysis. She stressed that individuals who have smoked at least one pack of cigarettes per day for 20 years should consider having a lung health vital check.
Doctor’s advice if you are a long-term smoker
In a recent TV appearance, Dr. Beatrice Mahler recommended that smokers, especially long-time smokers, undergo a chest CT scan.
The specialist told that, within the “Marius Nasta” Institute, many patients with lung cancer or with lung metastases of some types of cancer that developed at a distance and were not detected in time were treated.
This situation is considered extremely serious, as detecting cancer in advanced stages limits treatment options and reduces patients’ chances of survival.
“At Marius Nasta, there are many patients who arrive with lung cancer or with lung metastases of a cancer that is, in fact, a distant cancer and which the respective patient did not know about and the metastases are detected, then we look for the primary source.
It is an extremely serious phenomenon, this late detection of cancer, and if we are talking about lung cancer, things are quite complex, because the lung has no pain receptor and practically anything that grows in the lung, beyond the symptoms attributed to smoking, that is, a cough that can be irritating at most or absent at all, the person in question has no symptoms,” said Beatrice Mahler.
How can patients be motivated to get their essential health check-up?
Next, the manager of the “Marius Nasta” Institute of Pneumoftisiology in Bucharest emphasized the importance of prevention through the use of screening programs, but also of quitting smoking, if one is aware of the real risk.
According to his warnings, it is essential that people who have smoked at least one pack of cigarettes a day for more than 20 years and have now reached the age of 55 consider having a chest CT scan.
“It’s extremely important that we direct our searches or search direction to screening programs, to make them understand that anyone who smokes for more than 20 years, a pack of cigarettes a day, needs to over 20 years and especially if he is more than 55 years old, to have a CT chest exam.
Depending on the result, the behavior is varied. The examinations are repeated over a long period of time, but there is a condition imposed by the states that support such screening programs through health programs, namely the abandonment of smoking”, Mahler also declared.
Quitting smoking, the first step to avoid merciless diseases
The specialist emphasizes the importance of smoking cessation and counseling programs to combat this habit in order to prevent the emotional trauma and significant financial costs associated with cancer treatment.
In the same intervention, Dr. Mahler highlighted that it is essential that people who smoke at least want to give up this habit and get involved in specialized counseling programs.
We remind you that the smoking cessation program and counseling can help smokers overcome tobacco addiction, but also reduce the risk of developing serious diseases such as lung cancer.
“You must at least want to quit smoking, you must at least go to a program that advises you in order to give up this habit, and once these steps are taken, there is a good chance that you will detect the people in good time.
When we talk about such screening programs, I don’t think we need to talk about the cost-effectiveness or short-term relationship. We should think about long-term cost-effectiveness programs because the emotional trauma, which cannot be quantified in money, the cost of oncological treatment, radiation therapy, surgical treatment, psychological counseling, not only for patients, but also for the family, accumulated and calculated in years means much more money, than a CT done on a part of the population that uses this type of habit”, stated Beatrice Mahler.
