If you are one of the people who goes to the doctor when faced with a strange symptom, this could help you so that if you are suffering from cancer, it is diagnosed at an earlier stage and your treatment is surely more effective.
If you have any of the following conditions, it is important that you consult with your doctor so that you can receive the necessary treatment.
Among the most common symptoms of lung cancer are:
- Cough that doesn’t go away
- Coughing up blood or sputum
- Hoarseness
- Chest pain that gets worse when you take a breath, cough, or laugh
- Fatigue
- Loss of appetite and weight
- Bronchitis and pneumonia that are common or do not go away
- Difficulty breathing
- Wheezing when breathing in the chest
Nervous system alterations:
Headache, weakness, or numbness in an arm or leg, as well as dizziness, problems with balance, or seizures. These symptoms occur mainly due to the spread of cancer to the brain.
Bone pain
The pain will be felt especially in the back or hips
Yellowing
Whether on the skin or in the eyes. These symptoms may occur due to the spread of cancer to the liver.
Swelling of the lymph nodes
Ganglia are groups of immune system cells, such as those in the neck or above the collarbone.
To take into account
Some lung cancers can cause syndromes, such as:
Horner syndrome:
Cancers of the upper part of the lungs are called Pancoast tumors, which can affect certain nerves in the eyes and part of the face.
Among the symptoms that this syndrome can cause are: Weakness of the upper eyelid, a smaller pupil in the same eye, little or no perspiration on the same side of the face
Superior vena cava syndrome:
The superior vena cava is the large vein that carries blood from the head and arms to the heart. The vein passes near the top of the right lung and the lymph nodes inside the chest.
In this area, tumors cause pressure on the superior vena cava, leading to swelling in the face, neck, arms, and upper chest.
It can also cause headaches, dizziness and, if it affects the brain, alterations in the state of consciousness.
Paraneoplastic syndromes:
Some lung cancers produce hormone-like substances that enter the bloodstream and cause serious problems in tissues and organs. That is when they are called paraneoplastic syndromes.
These syndromes can occur with any lung cancer, but are frequently associated with small cell lung cancer.
What can cause lung cancer?
The first cause is tobacco consumption, which is present in 80% of lung cancer cases in men and 50% in women.
In smokers, the risk of contracting this disease is 22 times greater than in non-smokers, a figure that must be mentioned increases depending on the number of cigarettes consumed or the time of exposure.
However, more and more positive cases have been diagnosed in so-called “passive smokers”, who are those who do not smoke, but are exposed to smokers’ smoke.
And according to studies, indirect exposure to tobacco smoke increases the risk of lung cancer by about 25%.
A second group of elements that can cause lung cancer is related to environmental carcinogens such as asbestos, nickel and arsenic.
