Shadows and nodules appear on lung examination, is it cured or incurable? How can I do? The doctor tells you

For more than a year, due to the epidemic, our hospital stipulates that patients admitted to the hospital need to have a lung CT, mainly to screen for the new coronavirus (new crown), so that after the results of the lung impact come out, There are many patients who came to me hurriedly holding the film and said, Doctor Yang, look at my lungs. The film said that my lungs are shadowed or there are nodules. You can see how this works. What's the matter? I don’t usually have any symptoms in my lungs? Why are there nodules? It's not cancer, right? I often encounter this situation clinically. I also understand the concerns of patients very well. After all, there is something in the lungs, and everyone is afraid of changing it. As for the shadows or nodules in the lungs, how much is it related to cancer? Let me tell you here that it is related. I have contacted several patients clinically. One patient came to us for hernia surgery. We also did a routine lung examination. The final result was that the lungs appeared ground glass. Irregular lung shadow, I suspected that it was not a good thing at the time, so I suggested that the patient go to the respiratory department and do a pulmonary puncture, that is, take a piece of tissue in your lung and pass a laboratory test. Determine exactly what this shadow is. The final result was cancer, but the patient was treated with surgery. At present, the body is still OK. Although the example I gave is lung cancer, the chances of shadows or nodules in the lungs being lung cancer are not very high. Then, why do shadows or nodules appear from the lungs? What kind of shadows or nodules are fine and those need to be vigilant? What do we need to pay attention to when there are shadows or nodules?

1. Why do shadows appear in the lungs?

In fact, what we are talking about lung shadow and lung nodule are both imaging terms. When X-rays pass through the human body, the light will be blocked by the larger density tissue , leaving a shadow on the film.But different from the general shadow , the shadow of the x-ray is white . As shown below. This is easy to explain, as long as the tissue in your lungs becomes uneven , it may cause shadows or nodules to appear. So once there is a lung nodule, it means that there is something different from the normal tissue in the lung. So what is the difference between shadows and nodules? In fact, this is a substance, it's just a different size and a different name. When there is something in this lung, the diameter of of this thing is less than 3 cm (3cm ) we call it a nodule. Of course the nodules are subdivided again, is less than 2 cm we call small nodules, and is less than 1 cm we call micro nodules. When this thing is greater than 3 cm , we call it shadows or bumps, and shows that the shadow is bigger.Relatively speaking, the danger is even greater.

2. Under what circumstances will shadows or nodules appear in our lungs?

Actually, we mentioned earlier that as long as your lungs have abnormal tissues, they can cause shadows or nodules. In fact, there are quite a lot of causes. Next I will talk about these reasons in detail with you

(1) infectious disease: This is the most common situation. There are statistics on , and there are about ten kinds of infectious causes that can cause lung nodules. In addition, some common common pneumonia can also cause inflammatory granulomas, leaving diffuse shadows. What is going on here? In fact, it is very simple. After a lung infection, bacteria will destroy the tissues of our lungs, but our body is immune. It quickly kills the bacteria, and then replaces the damage by the bacteria, which will lead to our lungs. The tissue density of the spine has become uneven. Let me give you an example to make it easier for everyone to understand. For example, if you have a cut on your body, the cut will grow up, but it will leave a scar. Everyone knows that the scar is the same as ours. The skin is different, and the scar is harder. The lungs are also the same. Although they have grown, their density has changed. Finally, through X-rays, shadows or nodules will appear.

(2) pulmonary tuberculosis: Some pulmonary tuberculosis patients often have nodules in their lungs. Many people don’t know that they have had pulmonary tuberculosis when they were young. They will be found on X-rays due to physical examinations when they grow up. This is very common in clinical practice. We ask the patient if you have had tuberculosis before. Many people's answer is that they don't know. So it finally leads to the production of nodules.

(3) tumor : a small number of shadows and nodules are caused by benign or malignant lung tumors. benign tumor The most common are hamartoma, fibroma, hemangioma and so on.Malignant tumors of the lungs are known as lung cancer. Others include sarcoma in the lungs, metastases in the lungs and so on. Although the condition of the tumor is very low, special attention should be paid to the following conditions.

1. The nodules suddenly enlarged. 2. The lungs were found to have frosted glass shadows. 3. was found to be enlarged during a random physical examination. These three conditions are the characteristics of malignant tumors.

3. What should I do if shadows or nodules appear?
Find out that there are shadows or nodules in the lungs. Don't let yourself be kidnapped by tension and anxiety. There are also many benign diseases that also change the density of lung tissues, causing shadows and nodules in the lungs, such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, and pulmonary aspergillosis. So all you have to do is to review regularly to see if the shadow changes. 1. If you are inclined to pneumonia, bronchitis, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases, whether it is an acute or subacute infection, you must be actively treated, and after treatment, you must observe for 2-4 weeks and check again. 2. If you are inclined to benign hyperplasia such as inflammatory granuloma and atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, discuss with your doctor a follow-up review plan. If there is no change at all in the review plan, it can be ignored. 3. If it is a malignant tumor with obvious tendency, it should be hospitalized immediately for surgery.

What do we need to pay attention to in life?

1. Quit smoking : This is very important, because smoking destroys the normal tissues of the lungs, so smoking itself increases the incidence of lung cancer.

2, Keep away from dust and places containing harmful chemical substances . Cooks who have been engaged in cooking for a long time, housewives, long-term exposure to asbestos whites, long-term exposure to ionizing radiation, long-term exposure to dust, and long-term decoration industry need more attention.