Reporter:
βProfessor, what are the lung diseases that people in the Philippines are most susceptible to today? And why are they so dangerous to the health of patients?β
GS. Tobias Welte:
βIn the Philippines, I often encounter four common lung diseases: pneumonia, tuberculosis, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and lung cancer. Each disease has its own potential risks, but they all have one thing in common: they directly impair respiratory function β that is, they take away the ability to breathe, the most basic source of human life. I will analyze these diseases in more detail for you:
1. COPD β Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease According to WHO, COPD is the third leading cause of death globally, and in the Philippines there are millions of people who have not been diagnosed and most people are still vague about this disease.
Causes: Smoking (active and passive) is the number 1 cause; in addition, it is caused by air pollution, kitchen smoke, industrial smoke, occupational dust (miners, welders, long-time cooks).
Symptoms:
- Prolonged cough, phlegm, wheezing.
- Shortness of breath during exercise, later difficulty breathing even when resting.
- Poor sleep due to shortness of breath at night, fatigue, weight loss.
Risks:
- Chronic disease, cannot be completely cured - irreversible lung damage.
- Causes gradual reduction in lung capacity, patients must use oxygen tanks long-term.
- Easy to have an acute attack (severe shortness of breath), can be life-threatening.
- Increased risk of complications of respiratory failure, right heart failure.
2. Pneumonia
Cause: usually caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi; common in people with weak resistance or living in polluted environments.
Symptoms: high fever > 38Β°C, cough with yellow/green phlegm, chest pain, shortness of breath, chills, fatigue.
Risk: the disease can get worse quickly in a few days, causing acute respiratory failure, especially in young children and the elderly; if not treated promptly, it can be fatal.
3. Pulmonary Tuberculosis (TB)
Cause: Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, transmitted through the respiratory tract when inhaling droplets from a sick person.
Symptoms: cough lasting > 2 weeks, coughing up blood, rapid weight loss, night sweats, mild fever in the afternoon, loss of appetite.
Risk: destroys lung tissue, leaving permanent fibrosis; can spread rapidly in the community; if not treated adequately, the disease is easily resistant to drugs and has a high mortality rate.
4. Lung Cancer
Causes: mainly due to smoking, exposure to secondhand smoke, air pollution, charcoal smoke, or occupational factors (asbestos dust, chemicals).
Symptoms: persistent cough, chest pain, hoarseness, difficulty breathing, coughing up blood, sudden weight loss.
Risk: often detected late when the tumor has metastasized to the liver, brain, bones; is the leading cause of death among cancers.
It can be seen that lung diseases do not stop at pneumonia, tuberculosis, COPD or lung cancer, but also include other chronic conditions such as bronchitis, asthma, or pulmonary fibrosis. What is worrying is that most of these diseases start with symptoms very similar to the common cold such as prolonged cough, mild fever, transient shortness of breath, fatigue or chest tightness. This confusion causes many patients to be subjective, ignoring the golden period for early treatment, leading to severe disease progression and easy dangerous complications.
Reporter: βProfessor, what are the common treatments for lung disease patients in the Philippines? And are there any difficulties in this process?β
GS. Tobias Welte:
In modern medicine, there are many methods to treat lung diseases, but each method has advantages and disadvantages.
Antibiotics and specific drugs (bronchodilators, corticosteroids, ...) This is a common treatment method for common lung diseases.
Advantages: Control inflammation, kill bacteria/viruses, quickly reduce symptoms in the early stages.
Disadvantages: Mainly treat disease symptoms. Long-term use can easily cause drug resistance, liver failure, kidney failure, stomach ulcers. The effectiveness decreases over time.
Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, lung surgery
Advantages: Can remove or shrink tumors, helping to prolong life in lung cancer patients.
Disadvantages: Harsh process, causing hair loss, exhaustion, pain, greatly affecting quality of life. High cost.
Respiratory support and lung transplant
Advantages: Helps maintain life in critical cases, giving severe patients a chance of survival.
Disadvantages: Only applicable to very severe cases, low success rate, long recovery time, cost can be up to β±3β5 million.
Although traditional treatments help control the disease to a certain extent, they often last for many months, even years. Many patients relapse after stopping treatment for a while, forcing them to return to the cycle of medication, testing and hospitalization. During this process, the body gradually weakens due to side effects, the spirit is tired, and life is interrupted
In terms of costs, on average, a patient in the Philippines needs to spend from β±200,000 to β±1,000,000 for each treatment. For complicated lung transplants, this number can exceed β±3β5 million, becoming a huge financial burden for the whole family.
Also from that difficult treatment reality, my team of experts in Germany and I focused on researching a method to support lung recovery from the root. That means not only temporarily reducing symptoms, but also directly affecting damaged lung tissue, promoting new cell regeneration, reducing inflammation and preventing disease progression.
LungBoost - a specialized medical nutritional therapy for lung patients.
LungBoost is designed to supplement nutrition, enhance immunity, restore damaged lung tissue and reduce the risk of disease recurrence, thereby helping patients gain more strength during treatment and improve quality of life.
Reporter: Professor, LungBoost is a new method, right? So compared to traditional treatments, what outstanding effects does this product really bring to lung patients? Is there any clinical evidence to prove it?
- Professor Tobias Welte:
LungBoost is produced based on modern extraction and nanotechnology from Germany - America, helping natural active ingredients to retain their purity and easily penetrate into lung tissue. Thanks to that, nutrients not only pass through the digestive system but also directly affect lung cells, promoting the process: