When something is going wrong in your body, there will be signs. They may be subtle, but they are visible in close observation. If you are a smoker, you may be worried about the smell of smoke emanating from your mouth or clothes. However, there are other signs that tell whether you smoke or not and these signs are difficult to get rid of!

Smoking is the harmful act of inhaling tobacco infused smoke and is a common activity all over the world. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 480,000 deaths happen each year due to smoking or smoke inhalation. The organization explained that smoking causes harm to nearly all organs and quitting lowers the risk of early death and other smoking related diseases.

Like many other substances, there are clear tell-tale signs when someone is smoking. This is especially important for finding lung problems like Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is a lung disease that makes it hard to breathe, sooner so people can get help.

Why Does Smoking Affect Your Physical Appearance?

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) explains that tobacco smoke has more than 7,000 harmful chemicals like nicotine, carbon monoxide, and various metals like arsenic, cadmium, and lead, quickly reach your lungs and then travel through your blood to all your organs, including your skin. Smoking damages your skin's ability to heal because it increases an enzyme metalloproteinase (MMPs) that breaks down collagen. Collagen is what keeps your skin smooth and elastic. As you lose collagen, your skin sags. Squinting from the smoke and puckering your mouth when smoking also cause wrinkles around your eyes and mouth.

Smoking also reduces blood flow to your skin, which means it gets less oxygen and nutrients. All these things together lead to what doctors call a "smoker's face." Quitting smoking can help prevent or slow down these skin problems."

Visible Signs Of Smoking

Here are some visible signs of smoking in people, according to 2013, Lung India

Fingers and Nails

When people smoke, the tar and other chemicals in the smoke stick to their fingers and nails. This repeated contact causes a yellow stain that's hard to wash off. It's a very common sign that someone regularly handles cigarettes or biris.

Moustaches

Especially in older people with white moustaches, smoking causes a yellowing effect. This is most noticeable in the center of the moustache, where the smoke from the nose directly hits the hair. The consistent exposure to smoke colors the hair over time.

Lips

Heavy smokers often have a bluish-black tint to their lips. This discoloration happens because the chemicals in tobacco smoke affect the blood flow and the color of the skin on the lips. The constant exposure changes the lip's natural color.

Teeth

Smoking causes teeth to stain both inside and out. The outside of the teeth turns yellow from the tar, while the inside develops a brownish-black stain. This happens because the smoke seeps into the enamel and discolors the teeth over time.

Premature Wrinkling

Smoking makes the skin age faster. This leads to wrinkles like "crow's feet" around the eyes and "cobblestone wrinkles" on the neck. This happens because smoking reduces blood flow, limiting oxygen to the skin, and damages collagen, which keeps skin elastic.

Nodular Elastosis

This condition, also known as "Favre–Racouchot syndrome," causes blackheads and wrinkles, especially around the eyes and temples. It is made worse by both sun exposure and heavy smoking. The skin becomes discolored with visible nodules and wrinkles.

Facial Wrinkling and COPD

A study published in Thorax 2006 found a connection between wrinkles on the face and COPD, a lung disease. It's thought that smoking affects both the skin and lungs through similar processes. If doctors notice signs like "crow's feet" on a smoker's face, they might recommend tests for COPD. This early detection can help people get treatment sooner and improve their lung health.

Brain tumours are often perceived as rare conditions that present dramatic symptoms. Many patients experience subtle and seemingly unrelated signs that can easily be mistaken for stress, fatigue, migraines, vision problems, or age-related changes. As a result, diagnosis is frequently delayed, allowing the tumour to progress and potentially affecting treatment outcomes.

Dr Abhiram Chandra Gabbita, neuro-oncological & skull base surgeon and senior consultant at AIG Hospital, Hyderabad, in an interview with Health and Me, listed the symptoms of a brain tumour that most patients miss.

One of the biggest challenges in brain tumour care is that symptoms vary depending on the tumour’s size, location, growth rate, and the part of the brain affected. Unlike many other diseases, there is no single symptom that definitively points to a brain tumour.

The Symptoms People Often Miss

In the early stages, symptoms can be mild and intermittent. Symptoms that warrant immediate consultation are:

1. Persistent or worsening headache, especially a morning headache or a headache accompanied by vomiting
2. First-time seizure in an adult
3. Blurred or double vision
4. Hearing changes
5. Loss of smell
6. Subtle weakness, numbness, imbalance, or clumsiness on one side
7. Difficulty speaking, word-finding problems, confusion, or memory decline
8. Personality changes, irritability, withdrawal, poor judgement, or reduced work efficiency
9. Unexplained nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, or increasing fatigue

These symptoms are often ignored or attributed to busy lifestyles, lack of sleep, or work-related stress.

As the tumour grows, symptoms may become more noticeable. Patients can develop worsening headaches, recurrent vomiting, blurred or double vision, hearing difficulties, weakness in the arms or legs, balance issues, speech difficulties, or changes in personality and behaviour.

In more advanced stages, symptoms can include seizures, significant neurological deficits, loss of coordination, confusion, severe cognitive impairment, or reduced consciousness. At this stage, the tumour may have already caused considerable pressure within the skull or affected critical brain functions.

Why Early Diagnosis Matters

Timely diagnosis can significantly influence treatment outcomes. When detected early, brain tumours are often smaller, more localised, and potentially easier to manage through surgery. Early diagnosis enables safer and more complete surgery and allows earlier access to modern targeted therapies, radiation therapy, or a combination of treatment approaches.

Early intervention can help preserve neurological function, reduce complications, improve quality of life, and increase the likelihood of favourable long-term outcomes.

Conversely, delayed diagnosis can allow a tumour to grow larger and affect critical areas of the brain, making treatment more complex and increasing the risk of permanent neurological impairment and cognitive dysfunction.

Advances in Treatment and the Importance of Timely Intervention

Brain tumour treatment has advanced significantly in recent years, enabling clinicians to diagnose and treat tumours with greater precision while preserving healthy brain tissue. Treatment options typically depend on the tumour's type, size, location, grade, and the patient's overall condition. Surgery remains the cornerstone of treatment for many brain tumours and is often complemented by radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapies, or a combination of these approaches.

Technological innovations are further enhancing surgical outcomes. Today, there are systems that allow neurosurgeons to access deep-seated brain tumours and perform precise, non-thermal tumour removal while using specialised fluorescence imaging to better visualise cancerous tissue, particularly in high-grade gliomas. Similarly, ultrasonic aspirator technology enables the safe and accurate removal of tumour tissue while preserving delicate surrounding brain structures. Neuro-endoscopic systems help facilitate safer tumour removal in a minimally invasive manner.

Awareness remains one of the most powerful tools in improving brain tumour outcomes. Recognising the early warning signs and seeking timely medical advice can make a meaningful difference in a patient's treatment journey.

Doctors encourage individuals to listen to their bodies and pay attention to symptoms that persist or worsen over time. Early recognition, accurate diagnosis, and prompt intervention can not only improve treatment success but also help patients maintain their independence, neurological function, and quality of life.

The key message is pattern and progression. Symptoms that persist, worsen, or occur in combination should not be ignored. Early diagnosis can change outcomes by allowing safer surgery, better preservation of speech, movement, vision, and cognition, earlier oncological treatment, and improved quality of life. Awareness should create action, not fear. So, spot the signs early to stop brain tumour progression early.

Lung cancer is among one of the most feared health condition known to man and detecting it early on can make a difference between life and death but now a new study has even claiming of a more promising detection option where the detection the disease will be possible even before it starts to grow in this way the potential patient will be able to stay through screening and possible medication far before the ailment starts to grow in their body.

A new study by Australia’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) has identified a new blood signature that might detect cancer even before the disease develops. They are claiming that with this blood test, there is a chance that detection can be possible even 5 years before it actually occurs. The study was published in Cell.

The research was conducted with over 48,000 blood samples, and they identified a 14-protein signature that predicted lung cancer risk within five years and was validated across eight international datasets. Researchers made clear that the detection did not come from the tumor but from a different inflammatory lung environment that precedes cancer.

WEHI laboratory head Clare Weeden, a corresponding author on the paper, said: "The study could lead to more inclusive and effective screening approaches for people in Australia and across the world." She added, “In doing so, these findings bring us closer to a future where early intervention is possible, even before the cancer has a chance to develop.”

Also Read: Diphtheria Outbreak: Australia Reports First Death In A Decade

What Is Lung Cancer?

Lung Cancer is one of the most common and serious types of cancer. It is also the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with approximately 2.5 million new cases and 1.8 million deaths reported in 2022. According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer mainly occurs in older people. Most people diagnosed with lung cancer are 65 or older; a very small number of people diagnosed are younger than 45.

The Two Main Types Of Lung Cancers Are:

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC): This is the most common form, making up about 80–85% of all cases. NSCLC includes three subtypes:

• Squamous cell carcinoma
• Adenocarcinoma
• Large-cell carcinoma

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC): Less common than NSCLC, this type tends to grow and spread more quickly.

Early Signs And Symptoms To Look Out For

Lung cancer symptoms can mimic less serious conditions, which is why they’re often dismissed or misdiagnosed. If you experience the following symptoms persistently, don’t ignore them—regardless of your age or smoking history:

• Chest pain or discomfort
• Unexplained shortness of breath
• Persistent cough or wheezing
• Shoulder, back, or rib pain
• Fatigue or sudden weight loss
• Blood in sputum (though not always present).

For many young and middle- aged adults, headaches or brief dizzy spells often feel routine — attributed to long work hours, stress, or poor sleep. Occasional blackouts or “spacing out” episodes may be brushed aside as fatigue or skipped meals.

What makes these symptoms particularly dangerous is that they are often mistaken for burnout, stress, migraines, or exhaustion — especially among younger working professionals. While most headaches are harmless, persistent neurological symptoms that disrupt daily life should never be ignored.

But there are neurological symptoms you should never ignore: sudden seizures, memory loss after brief collapse, repeated headaches, unexplained weakness, or changes in personality. These can sometimes point to an underlying brain disorder — and, in rare cases, to Glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the most aggressive and fast-growing forms of brain cancer in adults. It develops in the supportive tissue of the brain and can quickly affect memory, speech, movement, personality, and other neurological functions. Because the tumour tends to spread into nearby healthy brain tissue, complete surgical removal is often difficult, making timely diagnosis and treatment extremely important. While brain tumours are often associated with older adults, specialists are increasingly seeing younger individuals dismiss early warning signs as work-related fatigue, lack of sleep, stress, or lifestyle burnout. Delayed recognition can sometimes postpone critical medical intervention. In India, there are around 23,000 glioblastoma cases per day, considered higher incidence rates along with North America, Australia, Northern and Eastern Europe. Seizures and persistent headaches are often among the earliest symptoms that prompt medical investigation.

Recently, a 34-year-old woman presented to Apollo Hospitals, Bannerghatta with seizures and memory loss. Her first seizure occurred one morning at home — she collapsed briefly, with twisting of arms and legs, and woke with total memory loss of the episode. Like many young professionals struggling between work and personal commitments, she first considered the cause to be work-induced stress. The family did not suspect that these seemingly routine headaches and blackouts could indicate a serious neurological condition. Before that, she had minor headaches — the kind most people ignore. An MRI scan revealed brain swelling, and anti-seizure medication was prescribed. A second opinion at month’s end showed swelling reduction.

The turning point came in late, during a road trip, when she suffered three seizures in two hours. A burr hole biopsy of a right frontal lesion suggested a diffuse low-grade glioma. Subsequent evaluations at Apollo Hospitals upgraded the diagnosis to bifrontal Glioblastoma — a clinically challenging case due to its location. This is a clinically unusual case because most of the time, GBM is diagnosed with MRI with contrast, MR spectroscopy, and biopsy to confirm the type and grade of tumor. In this patient’s case, imaging revealed widespread bifrontal involvement — making conventional surgery high risk. Her care team opted for a non-surgical precision radiotherapy approach. She had 25 high precision image guided radiotherapy (IGRT) sessions using RapidArc technology. This was followed by two CyberKnife boost sessions to high-risk tumour areas - a plan to boost treatment precisely where it was most needed. All sessions went smoothly, with no major side effects. Since October 2024, she has been undergoing her cycle of monthly chemotherapy treatment alongside her regular scanning.Happily, she was also able to slowly get back to work, engage in recreational activities, and gain a semblance of normal life despite the ongoing cancer treatment.

Signs that point to headaches along with seizures, vomiting, blurred vision, confusion, personality changes, weakness, or an increasing frequency of symptoms should be evaluated medically without delay. Even one seizure is not an issue to ignore.

Some symptoms you must mention to your doctor will be:

• Dizziness or headaches

• Constriction
• Trembling and weakness or paralysis
• Memory loss or other indications of memory disorder
• Visual difficulties

It may help you diagnose your problems effectively if you see a neurologist, conduct MRI brain imaging and have consultations from an early stage. While some headaches or seizures do not necessarily mean having a tumor in the brain, regular occurrence of such symptoms with no reason is likely to be examined by an expert. However, although a proper healthy lifestyle may help your brain remain healthy, it will be ineffective for illnesses like GBM.

Dr Sridhar PS, Radiation Oncologist, Apollo Hospitals, Bangalore