Wuhan Evening News (Reporter Xie Junjie, Correspondent Wang Min, Zhang Quanlu) Recently, Master Zhou (pseudonym), who is over fifty years old, was rushed to Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital for treatment due to persistent high fever and difficulty breathing. After a preliminary examination, it was found that Master Zhou's lungs were severely damaged and he had developed symptoms such as respiratory failure. After digging deeper, the doctor was surprised to find that Master Zhou had smoked as many as 10 packs a day. At present, Master Zhou has accepted the doctor's advice and decided to cut off the cigarette in two, but the damage to both lungs is irreversible.
It is understood that Master Zhou is an experienced carpenter who has been engaged in decoration work for many years, and often works overtime until late at night because of his work, and he starts smoking in order to refresh himself. At first, he smoked one or two packs of cigarettes a day, but as time went on, his cravings became worse and worse, and eventually he needed to smoke ten packs a day to get over his addiction. Master Zhou's family said that he only needs to light a fire once a day when he wakes up, and then the cigarettes in his hand begin to "relay", smoke one cigarette, and then light the next one, and pass it on. This smoking habit has been going on for almost 20 years.
In recent years, Master Zhou's respiratory tract has become extremely fragile, and he often suffers from fever, cough, chest tightness and other symptoms, which seriously affects his quality of life. During the medical treatment, doctors found that his lungs not only developed emphysema, bullae, but also tuberculosis.
Jin Wu, deputy director of the fourth tuberculosis ward of Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital, said that Master Zhou's situation was extremely rare in his many years of medical career. Through chest CT examination, it was found that Master Zhou's lung damage was very serious, and there was almost no normal lung tissue in both upper lungs, and emphysema was also very obvious. These injuries are caused by the decline in lung function caused by long-term smoking, and are the main cause of Master Zhou's breathing difficulties. After anti-tuberculosis and anti-infection treatment, Master Zhou's lung condition has improved, but his lung function cannot be restored to before, and in the future, he needs to avoid physical labor or strenuous exercise to reduce the burden on his lungs.
Jin Wu reminded that long-term heavy smoking is one of the important factors leading to lung tumors. When the smoking index reaches 400 or more (the product of the number of cigarettes smoked per day and the number of years smoked), the risk of developing cancer increases significantly. If you smoke 10 packs of cigarettes a day for 20 years, then the smoking index will be as high as 200×20=4000, which is a very high risk. Smoking can also lead to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, such as heart failure and cerebral infarction, which are more likely to occur in the smoking state and pose a serious threat to life and health.