Editor’s Note:
AHMC Healthcare invited leading physicians from three major Taiwan medical centers to share the latest insights on heart and lung care, muscle health, chronic disease prevention, and precision medicine. Cultural Express launches a five-part series.
“Lungs do far more than exchange oxygen—they power strength, mobility, and quality of life.”
At an AHMC Health System seminar, Dr. Chen-Yuan Chiang of Taipei Medical University’s Wan Fang Hospital warned that chronic lung disease is rising even as some infections decline.
His prescription: prevent infection, reduce pollution exposure, manage chronic illness, and screen early for lung cancer.
Pneumonia Strikes Vaccines Shield
Dr. Chen-Yuan Chiang said hospital-acquired pneumonia is often harder to treat because of drug-resistant bacteria.
If fever, cough, or shortness of breath returns after a viral illness improves, secondary bacterial pneumonia may be developing. Older adults and high-risk patients should stay current on flu, pneumococcal, and COVID-19 vaccines.
Tuberculosis still causes about 10 million new cases worldwide each year.
Although Taiwan’s case numbers have steadily declined, some older adults were infected when young and may carry dormant bacteria for decades before illness emerges as immunity weakens.
In the United States, many cases occur among immigrant populations.
Prevention has therefore shifted from treating active disease to screening for latent TB infection. Shorter preventive treatment can significantly reduce the risk of future illness and transmission.
Blocked Airways, Early Action
COPD is most often linked to smoking, but indoor and outdoor air pollution, dust, and workplace exposure also raise the risk.
Dr. Chen-Yuan Chiang described it as air going in but not coming out, causing chronic cough, excess mucus, and shortness of breath with activity.
Longtime smokers, people regularly exposed to pollutants, and anyone who becomes winded while walking or climbing stairs should undergo lung-function testing.
The earlier they quit smoking, the more lung function they can preserve.
Asthma can develop at any age, not just in children or people with allergies.
Recurrent coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, or breathlessness should be evaluated with lung-function and airway-response tests.
Treatment now favors inhaled corticosteroid–based therapy over relying solely on short-acting bronchodilators, whose overuse may increase the risk of severe attacks and death.
Bronchiectasis can trap mucus and trigger repeated infections, making airway clearance, infection control, and regular follow-up essential.
Pulmonary fibrosis gradually stiffens the lungs, causing dry cough and exertional breathlessness.
Antifibrotic drugs may slow progression, but early detection remains critical.
Nonsmoker Risk, Low-Dose Screening
Dr. Chen-Yuan Chiang warned that never smoking does not eliminate lung cancer risk. In Taiwan, 93.9% of women with lung cancer have never smoked, pointing to possible roles for air pollution, family history, and other environmental factors.
Those with a family history of lung cancer or a long history of heavy smoking should receive low-dose CT screening if eligible. Detecting tumors early greatly improves the chances of successful surgery and survival.
Protecting lung health, Chiang said, requires daily action: quit smoking, limit exposure to pollution and dust, exercise regularly, eat well, wash hands, wear a mask when needed, and stay current on recommended vaccines.
Allergies, nasal conditions, acid reflux, and heart disease should also be properly managed, while choking and aspiration should be prevented. Every breath may feel effortless, but true lung protection begins before symptoms appear.(Health Column: Part 3 of 5)
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