Thyroid cancer is a disease that occurs when there is an abnormality in the growth of thyroid cells. Although the cure rate is high, it is probably difficult for anyone to accept the truth when discovering that they have cancer, even thyroid cancer.
Examination of patients after thyroid cancer surgery - Photo: BSCC
Doctor Nguyen Van Thai, Military Institute of Radiation Medicine and Oncology, said that thyroid cancer is getting younger and younger and there are many cases where 3-4 people in a family have this disease. So listen to your body and go to the doctor as soon as there are warning signs of the disease.
The first changes when the disease appears
- Mood swings: People with too little thyroid hormone are prone to moodiness or depression. People with too much thyroid hormone often become irritable, angry or anxious.
- Abnormal stools: Too little thyroid hormone leads to slow intestinal motility, causing constipation. People with excess thyroid hormone have increased intestinal motility, leading to frequent bowel movements during the day.
- Abnormal weight: Many factors can cause weight gain or loss, but if eating and exercise habits do not change and weight suddenly increases or decreases, it is very possible that there is a problem with the thyroid gland.
When the thyroid gland secretes too little hormone, it leads to significant weight gain. Conversely, when the thyroid gland secretes too much hormone, it leads to significant weight loss.
- Abnormal sweating: Decreased thyroid hormones can lead to decreased sweat and sebum production, resulting in dry and rough skin. Increased thyroid hormones make the skin moist and sweat more, making the sweat stickier.
- Abnormally thick neck: The thyroid gland is located right at the front of the neck. When something goes wrong, the thyroid gland can become enlarged, making the neck appear thicker. In severe cases, it can even affect speaking, swallowing, and breathing.
Pay attention to your neck area, avoid panicking because of unexpected signs when drinking water.
Many people are shocked when they discover thyroid cancer by chance. For example, there was a girl who suddenly found a large lump on her neck that looked like a deformity when she tilted her head back to drink water. Too scared, she went to the hospital for examination and received the result that she had thyroid cancer.
A lump in the neck is the most obvious sign of thyroid cancer but few people notice it.
One of the early signs of thyroid cancer is that the patient has abnormal lymph nodes and tumors in the neck, the neck is swollen. These tumors are often hard, have clear edges, and move rhythmically every time the patient swallows. Common signs include:
- Neck tumor: Usually the patient or family member accidentally discovers a neck tumor. The tumor tends to get bigger and bigger, moves with the rhythm of swallowing, there can be one tumor or many tumors and can be located in both lobes of the thyroid gland. When touched, it can feel rough and hard.
In the late stage, the tumor invades the skin of the neck, causing rupture, ulceration, bleeding and local infection.
- Hoarseness, difficulty breathing, difficulty swallowing, choking: At different levels due to the tumor growing and invading and compressing surrounding organs. These symptoms occur at a high rate and early, especially in undifferentiated cancer.
- Feeling of tension and tightness in the neck: This is a common symptom, pain spreads to the jaw angle and ear on the same side due to the large tumor compressing and stimulating the cervical nerve plexus.
- Neck lymph nodes: Can be detected at the same time as the tumor or before the thyroid nodule is palpable. Lymph nodes are often detected on the same side as the tumor.
However, this symptom is difficult to distinguish from a benign tumor, so when a neck lymph node is found on the same side as the tumor, it is necessary to go for a medical examination to confirm the diagnosis of cancer.
Doctor explains signs of thyroid cancer to patient - Photo: BSCC
Signs that you need to see a doctor immediately
According to Dr. Nguyen Van Thai, when thyroid disease begins to turn into cancer, there will be 3 signs on the body and people with additional risk factors should go for a check-up.
- People who are stressed and often stay up late: Thyroid cells are closely involved in the body's metabolism. Being too physically stressed for a long time combined with not being able to release emotions makes thyroid cells not recover well, leading to long-term damage to the thyroid gland.
- People who have had radiation therapy to the chest or neck as children: When children are young, cells in the body are in a period of strong proliferation, radiation is an additional stimulus for cell proliferation. Therefore, it can easily cause malignant transformation of cells.
- People with a family history of thyroid cancer: Thyroid cancer has two forms, one that originates from the individual and the other that is hereditary. If a first-degree relative in the family has thyroid disease, they should have their thyroid checked regularly.…
Furthermore, if people living with you have thyroid cancer, even if they are not related to you, you still need to have your thyroid checked because it is very possible that people have similar eating habits or lifestyles.
Signs that you need to see a doctor immediately include:
- Thyroid tumor shape: The shape of thyroid tumors is mainly divided into two types, one is a round mass that can appear in a certain part of the thyroid gland. Be careful of this thyroid tumor because it can be a thyroid cyst and thyroid cancer.
The second is the butterfly shape. This is usually due to thyroiditis or hyperthyroidism.
- Damage to lymph nodes: When thyroid cancer develops to a certain stage, the tumor in the body will compress surrounding tissues and organs, the patient will obviously have swollen lymph nodes.
In addition, patients with early stage thyroid cancer may experience hoarseness, mainly due to the tumor's continued growth and recurrent compression of the laryngeal nerve.
- Difficulty swallowing, difficulty breathing: When the tumor continues to grow, it will compress or block the nerves of the esophagus and larynx, causing the patient to have radiation in the shoulder, neck, and ear areas, leading to difficulty swallowing and difficulty breathing.
Not everyone with thyroid cancer needs surgery, people with these 5 factors only need to monitor:
- Core under 1cm
- No one in the family has thyroid cancer
- No history of neck radiation
- No lymph node metastasis
- Papillary thyroid cancer. Because when monitoring this group for 10 years, only 8% had to have surgery, the remaining 92% lived safely. But remember to have regular follow-up as prescribed by your doctor.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nhung-dau-hieu-dau-tien-khi-benh-ung-thu-tuyen-giap-am-tham-nay-no-2024111906361703.htm
Comment (0)