Prevention plays a clear role in keeping your lungs healthy and, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, that has never been more true.
COVID-19 is a respiratory virus that can affect the lungs, which may impact your ability to breathe normally and, in some cases, even cause lasting breathing problems after recovery.
“Infections like COVID-19 come predominantly through the airways,” said Wellstar Pulmonologist Dr. Hitendra Patel, explaining how the virus often enters the body.
Within the first days of infection, COVID-19 starts attacking cells in the respiratory system. In fact, the American Lung Association reported that the lungs are the first organ affected by the virus.
Being infected with COVID-19 can lead to shortness of breath, difficulty breathing and cough — symptoms which can appear suddenly and be severe.
“It’s important people do everything in their power to protect their lung health,” Dr. Patel urged. “This is especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic and as variants emerge.”
While the world continues to work together to control COVID-19, there are ways you can be proactive and protect your lungs.
Protect Your Lung Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Published on November 11, 2021
Last updated 03:03 PM December 30, 2021
It’s important people do everything in their power to protect their lung health. This is especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic and as variants emerge.
- Dr. Hitendra Patel
Wellstar Pulmonologist
Ways to keep your lungs strong
Take these steps to help you and your lungs stay healthy:
- Stick it to COVID. COVID-19 vaccines have been proven safe and effective at preventing COVID-19 infection. Visit a local retail pharmacy or visit vaccines.gov to find a shot. Now, booster shots are recommended for people ages 18 and older. Young adults 16 and 17 may also receive the booster shot, as well. Learn more about booster shots.
- Schedule a wellness check-up. Your primary care provider can help you stay ahead of potential lung problems and provide preventative lung screenings.
- Don’t skip the specialist. Don’t put off care for chronic conditions, such as asthma and COPD. Your primary care physician can refer you to a pulmonologist or other specialist, if needed.
- Say no to smoking. Smoking cigarettes, vaping or any other tobacco use increases your risk of developing lung cancer. Quitting has major benefits for both your overall and lung health.
- Eat a balanced diet. Create healthier eating habits, such as filling half your plate with veggies, to promote better nutrition.
- Create an exercise routine. Regular physical activity can help keep your lungs in shape, even if you are recovering from a COVID-19 infection. “For those who have had COVID-19 and are focused on lung recovery, it’s vital to get back into an exercise regimen and pattern,” Dr. Patel said. “Stay active and use your lungs to the best of your ability. Also, be sure to see a pulmonary physician if you have any concerns.”
- Stay grounded. Find ways to prioritize your emotional and mental well-being, whether it’s meditating or simply taking an evening walk.
- Catch some Z’s. Keeping a consistent and restful sleep schedule can have a positive effect on your overall well-being, including lung health.
Learn more tips to keep your lungs healthy.
Breathing tips to combat stress
Many people have been feeling a heightened level of anxiety and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following rhythmic breathing patterns, such as the “4-7-8” method, may help bring a sense of peace.
According to Dr. Patel, “4-7-8 breathing” can be helpful to calm the body, relieve anxiety and promote restful sleep. Simply inhale for four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds and then exhale for eight seconds.
In addition, practicing yoga and meditation can help relieve everyday stress. You can also follow our tips to take care of your mental health, or reach out to your provider for additional support.
Don’t wait to take control of your lung health. Schedule a wellness check-up with your primary care provider today.
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Highlights
Wellstar Experts Collaborate to Help People Fight Lung Cancer
From catching cancer to following through with expert care, Wellstar ensures patients never have to fight lung cancer alone.
Wellstar is dedicated to early intervention in lung cancer, which improves outcomes for patients. After detection of an abnormality on a CT scan, patients are immediately surrounded with an interdisciplinary support team devoted to their well-being.
Identifying lung cancer early
If you are at increased risk for developing lung cancer, talk to your care team about screenings. With a low-dose CT scan of the chest, it only takes a few seconds to check in on your lung health. These screenings are offered at several Wellstar imaging centers.
The United States Preventive Services Task Force has revised lung screening guidelines. Patients may qualify for screening if they are 50 to 80 years old and smoked for 20 years. If they are a former smoker, they may qualify if they quit less than 15 years ago.
“Lung screening improves a person’s chances of detecting a lung cancer at an early stage and being cured of that cancer,” said Wellstar Thoracic Surgeon Dr. William Mayfield.
Because finding cancer and starting treatment sooner can be life-saving, Wellstar has invested in the incidental nodule program. When people come into a hospital seeking care for something else—whether that be a health condition like appendicitis or a traumatic event like a motorcycle accident—they might get a scan of the abdomen or chest that also shows portions of the lungs.
Using artificial intelligence, reports of those scans are fed to report coordinators, categorized based on their risk level, and if the patient is higher-risk, forwarded to nurse navigators for review. Nurse navigators consult with physicians about the findings, and Wellstar can then initiate care if cancer is found.
“People that come to the hospital for other problems may also be walking around with a lung cancer they didn’t know about,” Dr. Mayfield said.
The program, which started in fall 2020, has identified a total of 148 lung cancers and 14 other types of cancer, as of October 2024.
“Now those people are getting care, and it’s quite likely those cancers would have been missed,” Dr. Mayfield said.
Wellstar is developing another incidental nodule program for the abdominal area, which could lead to the discovery of several cancers including ovarian, kidney, bladder and liver cancers.
The program aligns with the Wellstar mission of enhancing the health and well-being of every person we serve.
“It was the right thing to do for the community. If we miss these cancers, it is a broken promise to the patient,” Dr. Mayfield said.
Then, if cancer is found, Wellstar “closes the loop” by initiating treatment and connecting the patient with resources, Dr. Mayfield said.
Expert care and support at every step
From the very beginning, lung cancer patients at Wellstar are surrounded by a team of experts. Rather than go through the time-consuming process of driving to multiple appointments with different specialists, patients meet with all these physicians in one place.
The Wellstar Lung Cancer STAT Clinic, at Wellstar Cobb, Douglas, Kennestone Regional, North Fulton and Paulding medical centers, as well as the Thoracic NOW Clinic at Wellstar MCG Health Medical Center, give patients immediate access to specialists in medical oncology, radiation oncology, pulmonary medicine and thoracic surgery.
“No other health system does multidisciplinary care the way Wellstar does,” Dr. Mayfield said.
Getting multiple expert opinions from the start not only gives patients peace of mind, it speeds up treatment, too. In the United States, the average time between an abnormal scan and the beginning of treatment is 95 days, Dr. Mayfield said. The STAT Clinic reduces that time to as little as 14 days. Time-to-treatment affects long-term survival in lung cancer patients, Dr. Mayfield said—a six-week delay can reduce five-year survival by up to 13%, according to research from the Cleveland Clinic.
“Time really does matter in the treatment and diagnosis of lung cancer,” Dr. Mayfield said.
High-tech surgery options
For many patients, surgery is a crucial part of lung cancer treatment. Wellstar offers several minimally invasive options, reducing recovery time for patients.
Dr. Mayfield said more than 90% of lung cancer surgeries at Wellstar are performed using either the da Vinci Surgical System or Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery techniques (VATS).
Minimally invasive surgeries reduce pain, scarring, blood loss and infection, as well as time to recover—getting patients back to work and other routines quicker.
The da Vinci system is equipped with 3D cameras and instruments that can make very intricate, precise movements, allowing for shorter incisions and more accurate surgery. Some patients can leave the hospital as early as the next day.
For biopsies, Wellstar has completed 500 procedures using the Ion system, a robotic-assisted platform.
To prevent lung cancer and keep your lungs healthy, talk to your primary care team and follow a few tips, such as avoiding smoking and getting your exercise. Learn more about treatments on our cancer care page.
Highlights
Lung Biopsy Technology at Wellstar Reduces Complications, Speeds Up Treatment
Innovative technology at Wellstar is offering patients a minimally invasive option for lung biopsies, reducing complications and helping expedite lung cancer treatment.
The Ion system is a robotic-assisted platform for performing lung biopsies. If a lung cancer screening or any other CT scan shows a suspicious nodule, providers will need to perform a biopsy to determine if the patient has lung cancer and how to proceed with care.
“Those nodules may not be cancer, but in certain situations we still need to know what it is,” said Wellstar Pulmonologist Dr. Timothy Udoji. “The Ion technology helps us biopsy those nodules to get an answer so that additional workup can be done immediately. If it is cancer, we want to catch it at an early stage.”
The system uses a three-dimensional spatial recognition technology that helps guide a catheter down the airway, deep into the lung, all the way to small nodules where biopsies can be performed. The robotic catheter maintains its shape and stability throughout the biopsy process significantly improving diagnostic yield compared to other modalities.
“The better the image and the more certainty we have of the spatial location of the catheter, the better we can avoid complications by making sure we are not too close to a blood vessel or the edge of the lung,” said Wellstar Thoracic Surgeon Dr. Daniel Fortes.
During the biopsy, providers can also use the Ion system to mark an area in the lung, making it easier to find later during surgery.
“If something is very small and hard to find in surgery, Ion can be used to mark that area with dye, or contrast, that allows us to find it in surgery,” Dr. Fortes said. “With this technology added to the surgical robotic system in the operating room, we can better identify those lesions and remove smaller portions of lung, also called segments.”
Technology to help provide peace of mind
The Ion system also has further reach than previous technologies and is able to more easily biopsy nodules in the peripheral areas of the lung. For many cancer patients, this will allow them to initiate care earlier and improve their outcomes, as well as give them peace of mind during the treatment process.
“Mental health impacts physical health. We are able to confidently biopsy and identify these nodules and that means a lot for our patients,” Dr. Udoji said. “Now, with this new technology we are able to get a biopsy done much earlier which has huge outcome implications for malignant nodules.”
At Wellstar, cancer care is tailored for each patient. In the Wellstar STAT Clinic for Lung Cancer, patients meet with multiple specialists at once to discuss their care options and create a personalized treatment plan. Specialists in the STAT Clinics, which are located at Wellstar Cobb, Douglas, Kennestone Regional, North Fulton and Paulding medical centers, work with patients to determine the optimal course of treatment and will talk with patients and families about biopsy options, including the Ion system. The STAT Clinics give patients the opportunity to have their diagnoses managed right away, and literature shows that the clinics’ diagnostic and treatment model improves outcomes for patients.
The Ion system is currently in use at Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center, where the team has completed 500 procedures. Learn more about lung cancer care at wellstar.org/lungcancer.
Newsroom
Wellstar Experts Demonstrate the Latest Robotic Technologies Used in Lung Cancer Care
Only 3.8% of those at high risk for cancer in Georgia are screened, according to the American Lung Association’s 2023 State of Lung Cancer report. To help enhance awareness and share the latest robotic technologies with healthcare professionals and community members, Wellstar held a Lung Cancer Showcase February 21 at the Atlanta Marriott Northwest in Cobb County. The event was held in a mobile laboratory with mock operating rooms and robotic surgical systems.
During the event, attended by several medical experts, Dr. Theolyn Price, Wellstar thoracic surgeon, and Dr. Timothy Udoji, Wellstar interventional pulmonologist, demonstrated how they use the Ion robotic bronchoscopy and da Vinci Xi surgical robotic system consecutively under a single anesthesia event to locate, biopsy and treat patients with early-stage lung cancer.
As she demonstrated how to control the da Vinci robot’s spider-like arms to perform surgeries, Dr. Price said, “See how I can use this clutch to move my arms up and down?” From there, she explained in detail how she cut away the cancerous tissue.
Dr. Udoji told participants how he uses the Ion robotic navigation bronchoscopy system to perform biopsies on potentially cancerous lung tissue, “This blue line shows exactly the pathway leading to the nodule inside the patient’s lung.”
The Ion robotic bronchoscopy system has safety features that ensure the instrument does not cause complications in other parts of the lung. Physicians can navigate and biopsy nodules in almost any part of the lungs.
Surgery is just one part of the treatment journey for some patients. Wellstar oncology nurse navigator Pam Plasket said, “We are dedicated to removing barriers to care and treatment. We promptly schedule appointments, connect patients to financial assistance and social support resources, and address transportation, housing and food insecurity needs.”
Wellstar nurse navigators know that shortening the journey for the patient is key and provides personalized care. At the Wellstar Specialty Teams and Treatments (STAT) Clinic, the goal is to move lung and esophageal cancer patients from diagnosis to initiating treatment within 14 days, which is facilitated by the multidisciplinary team of experts individualizing their care.
“It’s a privilege to help them. They have all my contact information and can reach out to me, and so can their caregivers,” Plasket said.
In addition to nurse navigators, several other teams were present to share information, including genetics, screening and lung cancer care. At Wellstar, patients have access to a suite of integrated services encompassing incidental lung nodule management, dedicated lung cancer screening and multidisciplinary lung cancer clinics (STAT Clinics).
Dr. Bill Mayfield, medical director of the Wellstar incidental lung nodule and lung cancer screening programs, explained, “Our goal is to broaden Wellstar’s ability to find lung cancers early and save more lives.” Additionally, patients with lung nodules not diagnosed with cancer but at high risk are monitored through regular lung cancer screening CTs or serial chest CTs if they do not qualify for lung cancer screenings.
Showcasing technologies and sharing the strengths of a comprehensive lung cancer program is just one step the team takes to enhance awareness of this unique and special program, available to all patients, from early detection to advanced treatment. Lung Cancer Awareness Month is held in November, but the team continues to increase outreach efforts year-round to build connections with consumers and educate the communities we serve.
You may learn more about the Ion robotic bronchoscopy and da Vinci Xi surgical systems online and read about our expert approach to comprehensive lung cancer at wellstar.org/lungcancer.
Left photo: Pam Plasket, Wellstar oncology nurse navigator, speaks with participants at the recent Lung Cancer Showcase. Right photo: Dr. Theolyn Price, Wellstar thoracic surgeon, explains how she uses the da Vinci robotic system to perform lung surgeries.