New Blood Test May Help Detect Signs Of Lung Damage Before Symptoms Develop

By: Kafi Drexel

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Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College seem to have made a revolutionary discovery that may inspire more smokers to put out their butts a lot faster. NY1’s Kafi Drexel filed the following report.

It's still in its experimental phase, but researchers at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center say a blood test can detect signs of emphysema or damage in the lungs long before symptoms develop.

Smoking is the leading cause of lung disease, and Dr. Ronald Crystal, Cornell's lead investigator says what a simple blood test can show might help more smokers quit before it's too late.

“The hardest thing is to get people to stop smoking,” Crystal says. “Despite all of our advertisements about how bad it is to smoke, no matter what the taxes are and the cost per pack of cigarettes, still 20 percent of adults in the U.S. smoke cigarettes and the same is true in New York City, because it is an addiction. But we know we can get people who have lung disease, who have symptoms, it's much easier to get them to stop smoking than people who feel normal.”

Ralph Puckett, 56, is proof of that. He quit smoking cold turkey after a chest x-ray and bronchoscopy showed he'd developed emphysema after 40 years of smoking. Had there been a test to show the damage earlier, he says he would have kicked the habit a lot sooner.

“I was surprised. I was shocked, thought I would have some kind of symptoms letting me know something was wrong, but I had no clue,” says Puckett.

Not only do doctors hope the blood test may encourage smokers to quit, but signs of damage can also help doctors catch and treat lung disease a lot earlier.

“Emphysema is destruction of the lung. The lung looks like Swiss cheese. There is destruction of the air sacs,” explains Crystal. “That's why it is so difficult to breathe. These patients have the sensation of breathlessness, particularly with exercise. So if we can detect it earlier that would be terrific because we can't give back the lung once it is lost.”

Researchers are still experimenting with the blood test in larger groups of the population. The goal is to start using it in regular practice within just a few years.