MUMBAI: A growing number of non-smokers in India are reporting lung cancer today, with the disease in them showing more subtle symptoms that are often difficult to diagnose.
Foetal determinants of airway function, such as in utero exposure to maternal cigarette smoke (CS), may create a predisposition to adult airflow obstruction and COPD in adulthood. It has been suggested that active smoking in adolescence and pre-existing airflow obstruction have synergistic deleterious effects.