Lung cancer is the most fatal and malignant cancers in the body. It is most common in chronic smokers and the risk of developing cancer of lungs becomes 20 times more in persons who smoke than in non-smokers. It is cause of 18% deaths occurring due to cancer. Almost one million men and 0.3 million women are affected by lung cancer every year.
It produces various types of symptoms. These symptoms represent the local involvement of the bronchi. Bronchus is a structural unit of lung. The lung cancer can spread very fast from the chest wall to heart or other distant organs. It spreads by blood or by lymph cough is the most frequent and earliest symptom. There can be no discharge or scanty expectoration will be present. In case of infection over lung cancer, there will be purulent sputum raised with cough.
If the tumor is present in the central bronchus or air pipe haemoptysis will be seen very early. Haemoptysis is bleeding from lungs. There will be active fresh feeding in the sputum of patient and excessive blood may come out after attacks of cough. The cancer will become large and will obstruct the passage of air causing dyspnea, short breathing, breathlessness, and easy suffocation. There can be accumulation of pus at the site of carcinoma making the lung more prone to infection.
Late signs of lung cancer include recurrent infection of lungs, lung abscess, excessive bleeding from lungs, collapse and obstruction of air ways, effusion of fluid from the membrane covering the lungs into the chest, high grade fever, dyspnea, cyanosis, loss of speech and pain in chest.
The cancer can spread to other organs like brain that causes epileptic seizures, confusion, depression, delirium, high fever and mood disorders. There can be loss of vision, jaundice, pain in bones and joints, kidney failure, spleen enlargement as a result of metastasis from the lungs to different sites symptoms of lung cancer include stridor which is an inspiratory noise occurring due to the narrow passage of air from the trachea or due to compression of wind pipe by the over growth of the cells.
Other symptoms that accompany the general symptoms of lung cancer are clubbing of finger nails, failure of kidneys, protein in kidneys, gynaecomastia or development of breast in males, degeneration of nerve cell and skin diseases.
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Lung Cancer scared the hell out of me that is why i do not smoke cigarettes anymore.,”: