May is Lung Health Awareness Month in Australia, and Crown St Medical Centre is raising awareness for the Surry Hills community about the importance of healthy lungs. The lungs play a vital role in regulating your breathing, circulating oxygen to the capillary systems when the exchange of oxygen occurs between the lungs and blood, enabling the body to functioning properly.
The lungs can be injured for example from respiratory infections such as influenza or covid-19 infections, from mould or related fungi, toxins from certain fumes and cigarette smoking and particulate matter such as pollution in the air. The lungs can be damaged from a single episode of exposure or damaged over the many years of exposure leading to asthma, emphysema, bronchitis or bronchiectasis.
The early symptoms of lung damage include recurrent infections, shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, and fatigue. Lung disease is a significant health concern in Australia. It is estimated that over 7 million Australians have some form of lung disease, with lung cancer being the leading cause of cancer death in the country.
Our Surry Hills, Crown St Medical Centre Doctors recommend:
- Avoiding smoking: Smoking is the most significant risk factor for lung disease. It is estimated that smoking causes 85% of all cases of lung cancer. If you are a regular smoker, speak to one of our GPs at our Surry Hills Clinic for advice on how to quit and for medication if needed.
Dr Phillip Tane is able to provide nicotine replacement therapy including nicotine liquid, nicotine vape prescriptions for harm minimisation.
- Maintain a Regular Exercise routine: Regular exercise improves lung function and overall cardiovascular fitness. This reduces your risk of respiratory infection. In Surry Hills, there is no shortage of good locations for getting in daily exercise, such as swimming at Central Station, jogging around the city or working out at one of the many gyms in Surry Hills, Darlinghurst and Redfern.
- Practice good hygiene: Practising good hygiene is about reducing your risk of infection. Good hand hygiene involves washing your hands regularly after contact with others, wiping down surfaces to reduce risk of infection, coughing into your elbow or tissue and washing your hands offer to offer spreading infection, and avoiding close contact with sick individuals to reduce the risk of respiratory infections.
- Get your Flu Vaccine and Covid-19 Booster. This is especially important as we approach winter. Our Surry Hills Medical Centre Doctors offer bulk-billed flu vaccine consultations and bulk-billed covid-19 booster vaccines. Both the Moderna and Pfizer Bivalent BA4.5 booster is available at Crown St Medical Centre.
- Get a health check: Organise an appointment with one of our friendly GPs to check a lung and heart check. This can help identify early changes to your breathing and prevent further deterioration.
Crown St Medical Centre is conveniently located on Paddington, Darlinghurst and Surry Hills. We are a 15 minutes from Central Station and CBD. Our experienced Surry Hills Doctors can assist with you with your healthcare needs. If you have any symptoms related to your breathing or would like a health check, book an appointment to speak to one of our friendly GPs.
