Nowadays, everyone attaches great importance to physical examination, followed by the detection rate of pulmonary nodules is getting higher and higher, in the past few years, it seems that few people have heard of pulmonary nodules, but now more and more people are detecting pulmonary nodules, which is related to the increase in people doing lung CT on the physical examination, and on the other hand, it is related to people's living habits and environmental pollution.
Should I pay attention to the detection of pulmonary nodules? Could it be cancer? A few days ago, a piece of news sent a lot of people into a panic.
A 29-year-old woman in Zhejiang Province went to the hospital because she had a dry cough that did not improve for a week. After a chest CT scan, the doctor found that she had a lung nodule about 5 cm in the upper lobe of her right lung.
Because pulmonary nodules are so common, the woman did not take it seriously the moment she saw the test results. But the well-informed doctor soon realized that something was wrong: there was something wrong with the nodule, most likely a malignant tumor in the lungs.
After communicating with the woman, the doctor decided to perform thoracoscopic right upper lobectomy surgery, and the pathological results after the operation showed that she had a malignant tumor in the lungs.
Fortunately, because the operation was timely, no organ metastases occurred, and the woman was quickly discharged from the hospital.
Should I pay attention to pulmonary nodules on physical examination? How far is it from lung cancer?
Radiographically, the densely densified, round-like, and focal sub-body or solid lung shadow of less than 3 cm is called a pulmonary nodule.
Pulmonary nodules may be local lesions or scars left after lesion repair, and the causes of pulmonary nodules are complex, and the common causes are lung inflammation, lung primary tumors, infections and metastases. At the same time, long-term smoking, smoke or dust inhalation can also lead to lung nodules.
Pulmonary nodules are mainly divided into benign and malignant, benign are generally scars or benign tumors left after recovery of pneumonia and tuberculosis; Malignant cancers are generally lung cancer, metastatic cancer, and lymphoma.
Does this mean that you need to worry about the detection of lung nodules? Of course not! A large lung cancer screening study in the United States showed that about 96.4% of lung nodules were benign and less than 4% were cancerous.
Normally, most of the pulmonary nodules found on the first examination are benign nodules, so there is no need to worry too much, as long as regular follow-up examinations are done. But we can't take this lightly, after all, there is still a 4% probability that it is high-risk.
You must be careful of these 6 types of lung nodules, it may be lung cancer!
(1) Look at the size of the nodule
In general, the larger the nodule, the more likely it is to be malignant. nodules less than 5 mm with a malignant probability of less than 1%; nodules of 5-9 mm, the probability of malignancy is 2-6%; Nodules between 1 and 2 cm have a malignant probability of about 20%. Nodules larger than 2 cm must be taken seriously, and more than 50% may be malignant.
(2) Look at the nodule density
In general, the probability of malignancy of solid nodules is relatively low, the probability of malignancy of solid nodules with some uneven density is relatively high, and the probability of malignancy of pure ground-glass nodules is in the middle.
(3) Look at the internal characteristics of the nodule
Internal features such as vacuoles and calcifications may be associated with malignant nodules in some cases.
(4) Look at the nodule morphology
Pulmonary nodules with irregular margins, lobulations, burrs, and pleural traps often indicate malignant features.
(5) Look at the growth rate
The growth rate of nodules has a very important reference value, if the growth rate of the nodules is found to be relatively fast in the follow-up review after the nodules are detected, or there is progressive growth, such as obvious growth in a period of time, the volume of the nodules has more than doubled, and for example, the solid components of subsolid nodules have appeared or the original solid components have increased, these need to be highly vigilant and pay attention.
(6) Look at the nodule margins
If the margins of the pulmonary nodule are unclear and indistinct, closer follow-up may be required.
If you have lung nodules, you should eat less of these 3 foods!
(1) Irritating foods
Excessive intake of such foods can irritate the lungs, increase the speed of blood circulation in the capillaries of the lungs, and aggravate the nodule problem.
(2) High-fat foods
The most typical is fried food, which is high in fat, and long-term consumption will lead to excess calories in the body, which will lead to an increase in the body's metabolic burden, which is not conducive to disease recovery.
(3) High-salt foods
Common pickles, bacon and ham, etc., these high-salt foods often contain a lot of nitrite, nitrite will be converted into nitrosamines after entering the human body, this substance is carcinogenic, will stimulate the nodules to cause the nodules to grow too fast, so it is also necessary to eat less.
If you want to avoid pulmonary nodules, please do 4 points!
(1) Prevent lung infections
The key to preventing lung infection is to strengthen one's own immunity, try to stay up late, eat on time and on time, soothe emotions, and pay attention to exercise.
(2) Less inhalation of particulate matter
The particulate matter here generally includes environmental pollution, fine particulate matter, industrial dust, desert dust, and so on.
(3) Less exposure to harsh chemicals
This requires people engaged in special industries to take good precautions and minimize the inhalation of volatile and irritating chemicals.
(4) Treatment of diseases that may cause nodules
Common are rhinitis sinusitis, nasal secretions that may flow from the posterior pharyngeal wall into the trachea and into the lungs when the person is lying down, causing inflammation and causing nodules. In addition, gastroesophageal reflux stomach acid may flow backwards into the trachea and into the lungs, causing corrosive inflammation and leaving nodules.
All in all, don't panic when you find a nodule, and don't complain about why you are unlucky enough to be targeted by a nodule, in fact, the detection rate of nodules is still very high, and about 30-50% of patients in the physical examination may detect nodules. After the nodule is detected, treat it rationally and scientifically, do not worry too much, do not take it too lightly, follow the doctor's instructions, and there is generally no major problem with regular reexamination.