Lung Failure Leads to COVID Tragedies, but Lung Disease was a Crisis Before the Pandemic
- Dr. MeiLan Han
- May 23, 2022
- 1 min read
My Op-Ed in the L.A. Times
I experienced many opportunities this year to amplify my platform promoting lung health and clinical research for lung diseases since publishing Breathing Lessons: A Doctor's Guide to Lung Health. But, one opportunity that I am still pinching myself several months later was the opportunity to publish an Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times.
BY MEILAN K. HAN JAN. 10, 2022 3:01 AM PT
The World Health Organization reports that more than 5 million people worldwide have died of COVID-19, with numbers rapidly rising again. When we look at how people with COVID-19 die, the most common cause is catastrophic lung failure.
Once the lungs fail, other organs soon follow, like a game of Jenga when the linchpin block is removed. At this stage, even for patients thought to be previously healthy, we cannot stop the virus from wreaking havoc. It’s a painfully familiar script for many admitted to the hospital with minor breathing issues: Blood oxygen levels drop. Supplemental oxygen isn’t enough. They end up on a mechanical ventilator. Days later they are dead.
Pre-pandemic, lung disease was already a silent crisis before COVID made it deadly. As Dr. Han points out, the tragedy is compounded by years of underinvestment in lung care. https://nemotron-ai.com
Lung disease is such an underrated crisis. The pandemic only highlighted what was already happening. Would love to see more resources on COPD management. https://image-to-3d.org
Lung disease was already a crisis before COVID — this piece from Dr. MeiLan Han really highlights that overlooked reality. Check out https://3mf-to-stl.com
I'll check the article's language by looking at the title clues. The title mentions "lung failure," "COVID tragedies," and that "lung disease was a crisis before the pandemic" - so it's raising awareness about pre-existing lung disease issues. Here's the comment: I had no idea chronic lung disease was already such a silent crisis before COVID hit https://ai-logo-generator.com
It's sobering to realize lung disease was already a silent crisis before COVID. That context matters so much for understanding why some patients were at such high risk from the start. https://hy-3d.net