Hello everyone, I am a thyroid nodule, which is discovered by more and more people during physical examinations or accidentally. As soon as they saw my name, some people felt depressed, as if they had been sentenced to “cancer”. But am I really as horrible as everyone thinks, I want to tell everyone what I think.
How did i come
The thyroid gland is my home. Regardless of its size, it is an important endocrine gland in the human body. The role of thyroxine secreted by it cannot be underestimated. If children lack thyroxine, it will affect growth and development and intelligence. If adults lack thyroxine, it will cause metabolic slowdown and edema.
I am formed due to the overgrowth of normal thyroid cells. I have an incidence rate of more than 20% in the adult population, but don’t panic, although my appearance is related to modern people’s mental stress, unhealthy eating habits, obesity, immune disorders, exposure to radiation, excessive or insufficient iodine intake, and genetics, etc. The factors cannot be separated, but it is also attributed to modern people’s emphasis on health and the popularity of physical examinations. Especially when thyroid ultrasound and other examinations are listed as routine physical examination items, we can no longer “hide in our boudoirs and live our lives.” It’s time for us”, more and more people have noticed our existence.
In fact, most of the members of our family (more than 95%) are benign thyroid nodules, and less than 5% of the members will develop into thyroid cancer. In this small part of malignant tumors, more than 90% of the tumor types are papillary thyroid carcinoma. Due to its lazy temperament, slow growth, and not easy to invade other tissues and organs, it is not very lethal and can be counted as cancer. The most gentle existence. However, for a small number of malignant tumors in our family, it is best to detect and treat early.
How to distinguish between benign and malignant
At present, ultrasound examination is an important means to distinguish benign and malignant thyroid nodules. If ultrasound shows solid hypoechoic, nodular shape, irregular edges, abundant internal blood supply, microcalcification, aspect ratio greater than 1, abnormal lymph nodes, etc. There is a malignant possibility.
Of course, it also needs to be combined with thyroid function, antibodies, calcitonin and other blood tests, as well as whether there is a history of childhood head and neck radioactive material exposure, and a family history of thyroid cancer. However, the above situation is not the final judgment. If it is suspected of being malignant, a fine-needle aspiration biopsy is required to obtain pathology. The final pathological result is the gold standard.
Do i need to be cut off
Most of us are benign nodules, only need follow-up observation, no active surgery. Unless the nodule is larger than 4 cm, which affects the appearance, or even if it is less than 4 cm, there are already symptoms of pressure such as dysphagia and hoarseness. If thyroid cancer is diagnosed, it also depends on the pathological type. The family of thyroid cancer is divided into papillary carcinoma, follicular carcinoma, medullary carcinoma and undifferentiated carcinoma. The degree of malignancy increases successively, but fortunately the proportion decreases successively. Among them, the low-risk micropapillary thyroid cancer has a low risk, and there is no need to make a decisive decision, and you can choose to actively observe it. But how to deal with it needs to be judged by a professional doctor.
What to pay attention to in life
If you want to stay away from me, of course, you need to maintain a regular schedule, quit smoking and limit alcohol, eat a reasonable diet, and maintain a good lifestyle. Regarding the intake of iodine, it is necessary to find out the reasons and analyze the specific problems in detail. If it is hyperthyroidism with thyroid nodules, iodine-free diet is required. The thyroid nodules associated with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis require a low-iodine diet because the intake of large amounts of iodine will aggravate the destruction of thyroid cells. For non-functioning thyroid nodules, iodine should not be avoided, and cruciferous foods such as cabbage and broccoli should be eaten less to avoid aggravating thyroid nodules. Which type of you are you, please have a specialist analyze it for you.
