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What does it take for a pair of healthy pink lungs to surprise doctors in an operating theatre? In Delhi, apparently, quite a lot.
A startling account shared by renowned pulmonologist Dr Arvind Kumar brings home the extent of the damage that prolonged exposure to air pollution may be causing to our lungs.
Recalling a recent case, Dr Kumar said that a 14-year-old girl from Kazakhstan, who had undergone surgery, had pink lungs. Their appearance was so unusual that it caused a commotion in the operating theatre.
"Pink lungs! Pink lungs!" was the reaction, he recalled.
The reason? Doctors have become so accustomed to seeing lungs with black deposits that healthy-looking pink lungs have become a rarity.
" In Delhi NCR today pink lungs are a rarity," Dr Kumar said.
The pulmonologist also showed lung specimens to illustrate the difference. One was the lung of a teenager from Delhi, already showing visible black deposits. Another belonged to an adult non-smoker from Delhi, with substantial black deposits.
"This is the pink lung as we are born with pristine pink lungs. But because of the toxins that we breathe, we have these black deposits," he explained.
The disturbing part is that the damage is visible even in teenagers.
Dr Kumar's account challenges the assumption that lung damage from pollution is confined to smokers or older adults. Exposure to toxic air begins early in life, and the consequences can accumulate over decades.
In the same conversation, Dr Kumar highlighted how lung cancer is increasingly being seen among younger people and women who have never smoked.
He said that in his experience, the peak age for lung cancer, which was earlier in the 50s and 60s, has shifted to the late 30s and 40s. He also said more than 50% of patients he sees are non-smokers, while around 40% are women.
The message from the operating theatre is difficult to ignore, when pink lungs become a medical surprise, something is profoundly wrong with the air we breathe.
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