A 38-year-old patient visited hospital with complaints of pain in left side chest and double vision. During the process of understanding his case history, the patient revealed that he is a chain smoker and has been feeling bouts of chest pain since few months. Initially, he had consulted a doctor elsewhere for chest pain & was asked to undergo ECG and ECHO and had ruled out cardiac problems.

He was treated for gastric issues. Post his treatment, after 8 months, the patient complained about repeated chest pain and double vision. To understand and evaluate his condition better, he was asked him to undergo MRI brain scan. The scan results revealed a tumor in his brain and further tests showed lung cancer. Since lung cancer was not treated at the right time, it had spread to his brain. As an immediate action, radiotherapy and other treatment was done which helped in the control of the growth of tumor.

Continuous smoking habit led to lung cancer:

In this case his continuous smoking habit led to lung cancer and the delay in diagnosis had resulted in spreading of the tumor to other parts of the body. Lung cancer spreads very fast and it is difficult to understand the symptoms of the same. When upper lung tumors compress nerves and arteries, the patient can present with pain or weakness in the arm or change in voice. When it  involves covering of lung (pleura), they present with chest pain. Left side chest pain is not always related to heart or gastritis. It is important for people to take necessary steps when they get these symptoms as it could lead to severe health issues.

Lung cancer in India is high-mortality cancer due to late stage diagnosis. This has resulted in treating and curing only 15 percent of cases of lung cancer at the time of diagnosis. Lung Cancer also can strike you at young age. 80% of lung cancer typically present late in stage 3 or 4 as there are often no warning symptoms shown.

Hence, those who smoke are always at a higher risk of developing these cancers and sometimes the first presentation is itself a lung cancer. Recently, we are seeing many young people also presenting with lung cancer which is increasing at an alarming rate.

Also Read: WHY HIGHER CANCER CASES ARE REPORTED IN INDIA?

Dr. Rajashekhar C Jaka
Surgical Oncologist
BR Life SSNMC Hospital
Rajarajeshwari Nagar
Bengaluru

The post Why Lung Cancer is turning into an epidemic in India? appeared first on Health Vision.

BR Life SSNMC Hospital, one  of the Bengaluru’s leading healthcare providers, witnessed a brave act of compassion when 35-year-old Hemanth Kumar, a road accident victim’s family gave their consent to donate his organs to patients in need of immediate transplant. The hospital that launched “I LIVE ON” campaign last year to encourage people to come forward and pledge their organs for donation witnessed a success story through Hemanth and his family. “I LIVE ON” is an online platform to pledge organs initiated by BR Life SSNMC Hospital.

Hemant, hailing from Kunigal, suffered a traumatic brain injury following a severe road traffic accident at Sunkadakatte after he fell down from his bike. He was brought to BR Life SSNMC Hospital for emergency and advanced care. However, despite all the clinical efforts provided, Hemanth could not survive and was confirmed brain dead by the treating clinical team.

Hemanth’s family approached the medical team at the hospital and expressed their wish to donate his healthy organs to patients in dire need of an immediate transplant. Hemanth and his family have always believed in the good deed of donating organs to save multiple lives. The organs were procured by a surgical team led by Dr. Rehan Saif, Senior Consultant HPB/Transplant Surgeon, Dr. Rommel S, Consultant HPB/Transplant Surgeon and Dr. Giridhar Venkatesh, Consultant Urologist.  The liver and one of the kidneys were transplanted to patients at BR Life SSNMC Hospital. The lungs, another kidney, heart valves and corneas were transported to other hospitals.

At BR Life SSNMC Hospital, the liver transplant surgery was performed by Dr. RehanSaif,Senior Consultant – Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary & Transplant Surgeon, Dr. Rommel S, Consultant Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary & Transplant Surgeon and Dr. Naveen Ganjoo,Senior Consultant Hepatologist. The kidney transplant was performed by Dr. Giridhar Venkatesh, Consultant Urologist and Dr. Manjunath S, Consultant Nephrologist.

Dr. RehanSaif, Senior Consultant – Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary & Transplant Surgeon said, “Deciding to donate organs after your death is a gift beyond compare. Hemanth’s family must be applauded for this selfless act which has helped multiple patients with organ failure to get a second chance at life.”

 Lauding the act of compassion of Hemanth’s family, Col Hemraj Parmar, Group CEO, BR Life says, “We have always witnessed a wide gap between the number of organs available and transplants awaited. A donor can save as many as 8 lives by donating various parts of the body once deceased. I am very happy that through Hemanth, we were able to perform this multi-organ transplant surgery, send organs to other hospitals for patients and create an awareness regarding deceased organ donation. I sincerely thank the family members of Hemanth for providing their consent on time and helping us save lives of people.”

The family members of Hemanth shared, “We are happy that our decision to donate Hemanth’s healthy organs have helped in saving lives of people waiting to live life again. We thank BR Life SSNMC Hospital for making all necessary arrangements on time to ensure that the transplant surgeries took place on time. Organ donation is a noble cause and it is indeed our honour to have contributed for the cause that both Hemanth and we believe in. We hope that through this act of ours, more people will come forward and pledge to donate their organs in future.”

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