If there are 4 abnormalities in the throat, it is not necessarily 'pharyngitis', beware of esophageal cancer
Uncle Zhang has been feeling a little unwell recently. He always has pain in his throat. When he wakes up in the morning, his throat feels dry and itchy. But he didn't care too much, thinking it was just an episode of chronic pharyngitis, and took some medicines by himself, but the symptoms did not improve.
After another period of time, Uncle Zhang felt the sore throat was unbearable, and even had difficulty swallowing food , and his breathing was not smooth. At this time, he realized that something was wrong, so he rushed to the hospital for treatment.
After a detailed examination, Uncle Zhang was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, which scared Uncle Zhang at a loss. Fortunately, Uncle Zhang's esophageal cancer is still in the early stage, and the condition can be effectively controlled as long as he is treated with standard treatment.
Many people think that the discomfort such as dry, itchy, sore throat is a pharyngitis attack , but in fact, it may also be a warning sign of esophageal cancer, so don't be careless.
1. Half of the world's esophageal cancer patients are in China. What are we eating wrong?
According to the latest global cancer burden data in 2020 released by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), there are about 600,000 new cases of esophageal cancer and 540,000 deaths due to esophageal cancer worldwide.
In China, there are 320,000 new cases of esophageal cancer and 300,000 deaths . That is to say, half of the new patients with esophageal cancer in the world are in China.
In fact, the human esophagus is very "delicate".
The esophagus of a normal adult is about 2 cm in diameter and 25 cm in length. During the peristaltic transmission of food from the mouth through the esophagus to the stomach cavity, it is easy to incarcerate or stay in the esophagus stenosis, thereby causing damage to the esophageal mucosa.
When the esophageal mucosa is repeatedly damaged, causing chronic inflammation, it can lead to cancerous changes in mucosal cells and lead to esophageal cancer. Therefore, esophageal strictures are also high-risk areas for esophageal cancer .
Why is esophageal cancer so biased against patriots?
The Lancet study mentioned that the global damage to healthy lifespan from esophageal cancer is mainly attributed to five factors, namely smoking, alcohol consumption, high body mass index, low fruit intake and chewing tobacco .
Pan Zhanhe, deputy chief physician of the Department of Oncology, Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Xiamen University, believes that the reason for the high incidence in China is inseparable from the following four factors.
Love to eat hot food : Foods that are too hot can easily scald the esophageal mucosa, and the mucosal cells may also become cancerous, increasing the risk of esophageal cancer.
Love to eat pickled foods : Pickled foods often contain a lot of nitrates and nitrites, and excessive intake can induce esophageal cancer.
Eating too spicy : too spicy food can easily damage the esophagus epithelium, causing deformation of epithelial cells, which in turn leads to mucosal inflammation, which can easily induce esophagus canceration.
Eating too rough : often eat too hard food, or not chew carefully enough, rough food will damage the esophagus mucosa when it passes through the esophagus, which will lead to esophageal cancer lesions and eventually develop into esophageal cancer.
2. An abnormality in the throat is not necessarily "getting angry", and be alert to the advent of esophageal cancer
There are no obvious symptoms in the early stage of esophageal cancer, and when some symptoms appear, it is easy to be mistaken for other minor diseases, especially "pharyngitis", "fire", etc., so everyone should pay more attention.
1. Difficulty swallowing
At first, I had difficulty swallowing when I was eating large pieces of food. When I was eating rice, I needed to take it with water. After that, I could only eat semi-liquid or liquid food . The development process generally takes 3-6 months.
2. Food choking
Patients often experience a mild choking sensation on the first bite of solid food, which disappears immediately, and then occurs every few days or months , which can easily be ignored.
There are also some patients who will continue to have a sense of choking, but most of them mistakenly think that it is pharyngitis or esophagitis, and the symptoms can be relieved after taking anti-inflammatory drugs on their own.
3. Foreign body sensation in the esophagus
About 15%-21% of esophageal cancer patients feel a foreign body sensation in the esophagus when swallowing. Some patients feel a foreign body sticking to the esophagus wall when eating , as if they can't spit or swallow.
4. Hoarse voice
When the esophagus tumor directly invades or compresses the vocal cords, or when the tumor metastasizes to the lymph nodes in the tracheoesophageal groove and compresses the recurrent laryngeal nerve, it will cause the symptoms of hoarseness.
3. To protect the esophagus, you must have a "degree" in your heart
Compared with other cancers, the overall cure rate of esophageal cancer is still relatively poor, which is a very big challenge for cancer treatment in China. Therefore, the prevention of esophageal cancer is urgent.
- Temperature: Do not drink too hot
Since the esophagus mucosa is relatively soft, it is recommended that the appropriate temperature for food be 10°C-40°C . If it exceeds the maximum tolerated temperature of the esophagus by 50°C-60°C, it is easy to burn the esophageal mucosa.
- Concentration: eat lightly
High-salt foods, high-concentration alcohol or strong tea and other irritating foods or beverages will stimulate or erode the esophageal mucosa, damage the esophageal mucosa, and induce chronic inflammation and cancer of the esophageal mucosa in the long run.
Therefore, it is recommended to eat less high-salt food, drink less tea, and try not to drink alcohol. You can usually eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, supplement vitamins A, B2 and C, as well as minerals and trace elements such as zinc, magnesium, iron and molybdenum.
- Saturation: don't eat too much
Eating too much can increase abdominal pressure and cause excess gastric acid secretion, which in turn causes gastric acid to "corrode" the esophagus, increasing the risk of esophageal cancer.
It is recommended to eat only seven full meals at each meal , and eat small meals frequently. The feeling of 70% fullness means that the stomach does not feel full, but the enthusiasm for food has declined, and the active eating speed has slowed down significantly.
- Speed: eat slower
Gobbling down a meal can cause food to be chewed insufficiently and not mixed with saliva. This rough and insufficiently lubricated food can damage the esophagus lining.
Therefore, it is recommended to chew 20-25 times per bite when eating, about 15-20 minutes for breakfast, and about 30 minutes for lunch and dinner.
- Raise cancer awareness
It is necessary to learn more about cancer prevention knowledge and raise awareness of cancer prevention, especially for high-risk groups over 40 years old, from areas with high incidence of esophageal cancer, with upper gastrointestinal symptoms or family history of upper gastrointestinal cancer .
It is recommended to do early screening of esophageal cancer regularly and endoscopy every 2 years for early detection and early treatment of esophageal cancer, which can greatly reduce the incidence and mortality of esophageal cancer.
China is one of the regions with the highest incidence of esophageal cancer in the world, and esophageal cancer has seriously threatened the life and health of Chinese residents. For esophageal cancer, prevention is better than cure. It is recommended to improve bad eating habits every day, and to do early screening on a regular basis, so that early detection, early treatment and improved prognosis can be achieved.
References:
[1] Pan Zhanhe. Half of the new esophageal cancers in the world are in China. Why? .The whole people are true-Tencent News.2020-05-19
[2] How easily can the esophagus be "scrapped"? A set of numbers protect this fragile pipeline. Life Times. 2021-04-19
[3] Cancer that was scalded? Three things you must know about esophageal cancer. Popular Science China. 2022-03-08
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