With the advancement of technology, people can check the details of their body in advance through advanced medical technology. However, to keep away from the disease completely, one needs to ensure the health of the body through good behavioral habits in life.
As one of the major diseases, the emergence of esophageal cancer has attracted people’s attention as the number of patients with esophageal cancer has increased in recent years. So how to know whether you have esophageal cancer or not in advance in life? What are the manifestations of esophageal cancer?
The early manifestations of esophageal cancer include the following four points.
A. Foreign body in the throat
Generally, when this phenomenon occurs, most people think that they have pharyngitis. Other such phenomena are also early manifestations of esophageal cancer. However, there are some differences between pharyngitis and early manifestations of esophageal cancer. For example, patients with esophageal cancer feel the foreign body more strongly when they eat and have more difficulty in swallowing.
Therefore, when one encounters the above phenomenon, it is better to go to the hospital to check what the specific disease is first, and if it is esophageal cancer, there is no need to be too sad, and we believe that the progress of medicine will treat us in all aspects.
Secondly, eating and swallowing are not smooth
Normal people can’t feel any strange sensation in their throat when eating food. However, once a person suffers from esophageal cancer, he or she will feel great discomfort when swallowing food, and there will be obstacles in swallowing.
So at this time, the patient feels uncomfortable in the esophageal area. Especially when swallowing, it is especially uncomfortable.
Third, the throat is tight and dry
When people are thirsty or dehydrated, the discomfort will disappear if they replenish water accordingly. However, for patients with esophageal cancer, no matter how to replenish water, this feeling will be there all the time.
Therefore, whenever there is tightness in the throat, you need to be alert to whether you are suffering from esophageal cancer. You must go to hospital for examination as soon as possible.
Pain when swallowing food
Patients suffering from esophageal cancer will feel especially strong pain in the throat as long as they swallow food or water in the early stage. This is also similar to tonsillitis.
When this phenomenon occurs, people who do not know about esophageal cancer will first take anti-inflammatory drugs at home to relieve the pain, but they do not know that such treatment is of no use at all, so it is better to go to hospital for examination when encountering similar phenomenon.
Causes of esophageal cancer
The population distribution of esophageal cancer is related to age, gender, occupation, race, region, living environment, diet and living habits, genetic susceptibility and so on. Investigation data have shown that esophageal cancer may be a disease caused by multiple factors. The proposed causes are as follows.
1.Chemical etiology
Nitrosamines. These compounds and their precursors are widely distributed and can be formed inside and outside the body, and are highly carcinogenic. The nitrite content in the diet, drinking water, sauerkraut, and even the saliva of patients in the high incidence area is much higher than that in the low incidence area.
2.Biological etiology
Fungi. In some high incidence areas, a variety of fungi can be isolated from food, upper digestive tract of esophageal cancer patients or resected specimens of esophageal cancer, some of which have carcinogenic effects. Some fungi can promote the formation of nitrosamines and their precursors, which can further promote the occurrence of cancer.
3.Lack of certain trace elements
Low content of molybdenum, iron, zinc, fluorine and selenium in food, vegetables and drinking water.
4.Lack of vitamins
Lack of vitamin A, vitamin B2, vitamin C and insufficient intake of animal protein, fresh vegetables and fruits is a common feature of high incidence area of esophageal cancer.
5.Factors such as smoking, alcohol, hot food, hot drinks and unclean mouth
Long-term drinking of strong alcohol, addiction to smoking, food that is too hard, too hot, eating too fast, causing chronic irritation, inflammation, trauma or unclean mouth and dental caries may be related to the occurrence of esophageal cancer.
6.Genetic factors
Esophageal cancer genetic susceptibility factors.
Clinical Performance
1.Early stage
Symptoms are often not obvious, but there may be different degrees of discomfort when swallowing coarse and hard food, including choking sensation of swallowing food, burning, pinching or pulling and rubbing pain behind the sternum. Food passes slowly and there is a sensation of stagnation or foreign body. The choking sensation is often relieved by swallowing water and disappears. The symptoms are sometimes mild and sometimes severe, and progress slowly.
2.Middle and late stage
The typical symptom of esophageal cancer is progressive difficulty in swallowing, first it is difficult to swallow dry food, then semi-liquid food, and finally water and saliva cannot be swallowed. Often spit mucus-like sputum, which is the secretion of saliva and esophagus from the lower throat. The patient gradually loses weight, becomes dehydrated and weak. Persistent chest pain or back pain indicates advanced symptoms, and the cancer has invaded the extraesophageal tissues. When the inflammatory edema caused by cancer obstruction temporarily subsides or part of the cancer is detached, the obstructive symptoms can be temporarily reduced, which is often mistaken for improvement of the disease.
If the cancer invades the recurrent laryngeal nerve, hoarseness may appear; if it compresses the cervical sympathetic ganglion, Horner’s syndrome may arise; if it invades the trachea and bronchus, esophageal, tracheal or bronchial fistula may be formed, and violent choking and coughing when swallowing water or food, and whistling system infection may occur. Finally, a cachectic state appears. If there are liver, brain and other organ metastases, jaundice, peritoneal effusion, coma and other states may occur.
During physical examination, special attention should be paid to the presence of enlarged lymph nodes on the clavicle, liver masses and signs of distant metastases such as peritoneal effusion and pleural effusion.