The “beautiful butterfly” that everyone cherishes
The thyroid gland is an important endocrine gland in the body, shaped like a butterfly with its wings spread out and standing in front of the neck, immediately in front of the trachea below the thyroid cartilage. The thyroid hormones it produces are extremely important to the development and growth of the human body and the normal functioning of various organs, so it is worth cherishing!
The normal thyroid gland weighs about 10 grams, is small and soft, and is not easily palpable on the surface of the body, although its location is relatively superficial. An enlarged thyroid gland is usually a sign of disease. Doctors can detect an enlarged thyroid gland by looking at it and palpating it, and an enlarged thyroid gland often has “nodules”, which are a very common endocrine disease, more often seen in women.
What are thyroid nodules?
In fact, the term “thyroid nodules” itself encompasses a large group of thyroid disorders that are very different in nature and often inconsistent in their pathological characteristics. It can be argued that “thyroid nodules” is not a final diagnosis, not only because it is a descriptive name that does not fully reflect the nature of the disease, but also because some nodules themselves can change in nature over time. Therefore, regular follow-up is essential.
Benign lesions account for the majority of all “thyroid nodules”, with thyroid cancer accounting for less than 5% of all nodules. There are also cases of lipomas, lymph nodes and thyroglossal cysts growing in the front of the neck that are mistaken for thyroid nodules and need to be excluded. The development of malignant thyroid tumors is generally slow and of low malignancy, except for undifferentiated carcinoma and thyroid lymphoma, which develop more rapidly.
Which nodules are considered malignant
Some substantial and hard “nodules”, especially those over 1 cm in diameter, or any larger nodules with insufficient clinical examination, imaging and cytology to confirm benign lesions, especially those with progressive enlargement, should be considered as possible malignant tumors.
The following factors are often clinically considered to be associated with an increased likelihood of cancer.
(1) Younger age of onset of disease.
(2) Male patients.
(3) Isolated nodules.
(4) “cold nodules” on nuclide scan.
(5) History of radiation to the head, neck, or upper chest (e.g., CT, x-ray, or radiation therapy) during infancy or childhood.
(6) Recent significant enlargement of the nodule.
(7) Hard, stone-like texture of the nodule.
(8) Fine sandy or punctate calcification (suggestive of papillary carcinoma) or flaky homogeneous calcification (suggestive of medullary carcinoma) are seen on X-ray. All of the above points often need to be analyzed in a comprehensive clinical context and cannot be applied mechanically.
How thyroid nodules arise
The cause of thyroid nodules varies from nodule to nodule, and the cause of some thyroid nodules is not fully understood. Inflammatory thyroid disease is often related to autoimmunity and is most often seen in young women. It begins insidiously, and when the inflammatory lesions progress to a certain level, nodules can form due to tissue proliferation.
Malignant tumors are often related to cytogenetic abnormalities and may have a family history or history of local or systemic external radiation exposure to the head and neck during childhood, and are also influenced by environmental factors, such as long-term consumption of foods with high iodine content; benign tumors, although they may also have a family tendency, are often influenced by important environmental factors, such as insufficient iodine intake during development, or long-term high iodine intake, or long-term consumption of large amounts of cabbage, cabbage, radish, cassava, etc. vegetables or roots rich in thiocyanates or cyanogenic glycosides, or the consumption of certain herbs with high content of flavonoid (different from isoflavones, which are two different types of compounds) substances, or the long-term consumption of seaweed (seaweed is rich in iodine and other goiter-causing substances, which have a double negative effect on the thyroid gland).
Chemical and bacterial contamination of water sources has also been found in recent years to cause nodular goiter. The effect of food or herbal factors is not exhaustive for everyone and is largely related to individual susceptibility (e.g., those with a family history), so regular people need not fear such vegetables or herbs.
Recovery of thyroid nodules
Patients with thyroid nodules need to be followed up by a specialist on a regular basis and managed appropriately, except for the “nodules” caused by subacute inflammation which often disappear after the inflammation has resolved. Appropriate medication should be administered.
In general, patients with thyroid nodules should limit their intake of iodine (including foods and medications with high iodine content) to avoid aggravating the autoimmunity of the thyroid gland or promoting the development of cancer and thyroid function. Dietary modifications are required for susceptible individuals. Those with autoimmune diseases need to adjust their lifestyles and quit bad habits, etc. The harmful substances inhaled by smokers have a negative impact on thyroid cells.
Patients do not need to carry a psychological burden
The majority of thyroid nodules are benign lesions that are not harmful to health; even if they are malignant tumors, in most cases the degree of malignancy is low and these low malignant carcinomas can be considered as a mild natured cancer that can be detected in time and treated actively to obtain very good results. Therefore, patients with nodules in the thyroid gland do not need to have any doubts and affect their emotions.
However, thyroid cancer is not a rare cancer. The results of census show that the incidence of thyroid cancer is more than breast cancer, but the mortality rate is only 1/6 of breast cancer, so it is less noticeable. In addition, there are also small papillary carcinomas that grow near benign adenomas and benign nodules that turn into carcinomas, etc. All of this means that thyroid nodules should not be ignored and should not be ignored, and that each patient should see a specialist at least once every six months for a formal examination and appropriate treatment.