Does running improve health? A man runs three times a week and is found to have lung nodules during a health check-up!

Is running definitely good for your health? Mr. Ye, 55 years old, who lives in Wufeng, Taichung, runs outdoors three times a week and considers himself to be in good health. However, when he went for a health check-up in 2017, he was shocked to find a shadow of about 0.6 cm in his lung. He thought it was "no big deal" at the time, but it was not until he was re-examined three months later that he found the shadow had become a nodule and had "grown" to 0.8 cm. Only then did he realize the seriousness of the situation. After communicating with the doctor, he underwent surgery to remove the shadow, which prevented it from deteriorating into the nightmare of lung cancer!

Doctors remind people that if they often engage in outdoor activities, they should pay more attention to whether the air quality indicators exceed the standard. The person in the picture is not the person involved.

To protect lung health, pay more attention to air pollution indicators when doing outdoor sports

Huang Jianwen, director of the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Asia University Hospital, said that air pollution has become a national topic recently because the fine suspended particulate matter PM2.5 in the air is very small. Once it enters the respiratory tract and reaches the lungs, it can penetrate the alveoli and enter the blood circulation. The harm to the human body is systemic. In addition to the lungs, it can also cause cardiovascular disease, stroke, myocardial infarction and various cancer risks. Even if people think that they have a normal schedule and exercise habits, "there should be no problem", but after a low-dose computed tomography (CT) examination, unexpected shadows in the lungs are often found, and there is a high chance that it is early lung cancer.

In addition to genetics, environmental factors are also a major cause of malignant lung nodules. In low-dose CT images, their characteristics can be divided into "ground-glass lesions" and "round, solid nodules". Both have a high risk of turning into lung cancer in the future, so clinicians often recommend that patients undergo surgery to remove the lesions for pathological examination.

Regarding the possible harm to the lungs caused by air pollution PM2.5, Dr. Huang Jianwen reminded that if people often engage in outdoor activities, they should pay more attention to whether the air quality indicators exceed the standard. If the air quality is poor, it is recommended to wear a mask to reduce the harm of PM2.5 so as to "cherish every opportunity to breathe."

Low-dose lung CT can be used to screen for early lung lesions. The person in the picture is not the person involved. (Photo courtesy of Asia University Hospital)

Lung cancer always comes quietly. Regular health checks can help early detection.

Lin Can, deputy director of Asia University Hospital, also reminded that lung cancer ranks first among the top ten causes of cancer death in China, but because the lungs have less pain nerve control, it always comes silently. By the time symptoms appear, it is usually too late to discover lung cancer. Currently, low-dose CT screening is an important way to diagnose and treat early lung cancer. It is recommended that people should undergo regular health checks to understand their own health status.