Lung Cancer Symptoms - What to Look For

Lung cancer symptoms are pretty elusive and misleading. Mostly the condition is diagnosed only after having reached advanced stages. As of now there is no screening process for lung cancer. Symptoms are virtually non existent exactly where lung cancer is concerned.

There might be a mild cough or shortness of breath that can also be attributed to some respiratory infections. This is the key cause as to why most of the lung cancer cases go undiagnosed in the early stages. Only a meager 16% of the cases are diagnosed early enough to facilitate therapy and cure.

Some of the symptoms that we can investigate are as follows:

1 - A new persistent cough that refuses to go away. Smokers often have cough but if they have cancer the severity of the cough would be distinctive.
two - Chest discomfort is one more indication that commonly goes unnoticed. The discomfort can deepen with difficulty in breathing accompanied with cough or laugh.
three - The throat is hoarse and when accompanied with wheezing can indicate inflammation of the lungs which could be cancer.
four - There is gradual loss of weight due to loss of appetite.
five - Hemoptysis or coughing up blood is a confident indication of cancer. The coughed up phlegm would be rust colored showing the presence of blood.
6 - The patient can suffer from shortness of breath due to blockage of air triggered by pleural effusion or fluid collection about the lungs or spread of tumor in the lungs.
7 - Repeated respiratory illnesses like bronchitis and pneumonia are a cause for concern. This could be indicative of lung cancer.

The cancer metastasizes or spreads to other organs in the body if it goes undetected in the very first or early stages. Lung cancer commonly is found to spread to the bones, the brain, liver, pericardium or the lining of the heart, adrenal glands and also from 1 lung to a further. The spread of the cancer brings with it the onset of significantly more symptoms like -

1 - Bone discomfort if the cancer has spread to the bones. The pain is felt in the back bone or vertebrae, the thigh bones and the bones creating up the ribs.
2 - Headaches, weakness of vision, numbness of appendages, dizziness and seizures if the spread of the cancer is to the brain.
three - Jaundice is brought on when the liver is affected by the liver. This is ordinarily not detected and is found significantly later. Initial symptoms of the cancer spreading to liver are nonexistent.
four - If the spread of cancer affects the lymph nodes then lumps appear on the surface of the physique frequently in the neck or above the collar bone.

Clubbed fingers, anemia, fatigue, weight loss, muscle weakness, skin rashes, low sodium content, degeneration of brain etc are all symptoms that have been found to exist in all kinds of cancer which includes lung cancer. Incidental chest x rays performed for other infections assist in the identification of the condition given that there are no certain symptoms that point towards cancer of the lung.

To Your Health!