Dushyant Gandotra
Lung cancer is, without any doubt, one of the most dangerous forms of cancer. This disease alone is
responsible for taking more than a million lives a year. Despite these horrifying numbers, lung cancer should not be seen as a death sentence because if caught in early stages, it can be cured.
The issue with lung cancer is that most of us aren’t aware of the first signs, which could potentially save lives.
In this article, we will go through the ten most common first symptoms of lung cancer that you should know.
1. Chronic Cough
Many of us will attribute the coughing initially with a cold or allergy, but if your cough has been going on for eight weeks or more, consider consulting with your physician.
Lung cancer patients have reported that a cough worsens at night, making it harder for them to sleep. Keep a check on your cough. It might not be a common cough after all!
2. Quick, Unexplained Weight Loss
You might want to celebrate shedding that extra weight, because of all the hype about obesity and the heart problems that it possesses. Congratulations if you are working out and then dropping that weight.
But if you’re not working hard to lose weight, yet it seems to be going down nonetheless, you might want to get in touch with your doctor. As soon as the body finds out that there is a tumour growing in the body, it expands all its energy in fighting that tumour.
Hence the weight reduces rapidly. So beware and look out if you are losing weight without any reason.
3. Laboured Breathing
Feeling short of breath or wheezing isn’t necessarily a symptom of lung cancer, so people will not
associate these symptoms with lung cancer. However, if you feel short-breathed usually, even while
doing the activities that you used to do with ease, it might as well be a sign of lung cancer.
It is sensible to get checked by your doctor, particularly if you’ve had lung cancer in your past, or if you are a smoker.
4. Pains in Your Hands and Fingers
If you’re feeling lazy and your fingers develop pain, it can be an early symptom of cancer.
If the skin of your palms is getting thicker, and you notice the sudden presence of white or pale folds, you might be having a condition called “tripe palm”, Which places you directly in a high-risk zone of cancer.
5. Chest Pains
If you’re experiencing pain while laughing, coughing, or lifting a weight, it might as well be a warning sign of lung cancer, particularly if the pain is constant. The tumours that grow inside your lungs, pressing the surrounding tissues cause the pain.
Also, lung cancer tends to flow to the bones. So if your chest pains are supplemented by bone pains (especially in the back or hips), contact your physician right away!
6. Unexplained Mood Swings
Sudden, furtive irritability is often a sign of cancer, but many of the patients and doctors are not able to make the connection right away.
If you’re having sudden bouts of irritation and anger, followed by exhaustion or depression that is accompanied by other warnings on this list – you have got to make a doctor’s appointment right now.
7. Blood in Your Phlegm
If you observe blood in your phlegm, it is a bad sign. And even just a small spot can spell danger. While bloodied phlegm doesn’t on its own denote lung cancer, but it’s still a warning sign so don’t wait to have it checked by a doctor.
If you’re coughing up blood in a generous quantity or the bleeding doesn’t stop, you have all the reasons to be worried.
8. Irregularities in Breast Tissues
Men having lung cancer can observe the development of breasts, as the tumour forces the body to
discharge hormones it wouldn’t usually secrete.
The physical body change takes place in a span of a few weeks to a few months. Never ignore such changes and make it an urgency to consult with your doctor.
9. Pain in the Shoulders
You may think its usual, but a shooting shoulder pain can many times be the outcome of a tumour that is pressing the nerves under the armpit, which might lead to tingling sensations and pains from the shoulder and down to the arms.
This sign is more significant in the late stages of cancer when the tumour is already pretty large. You might also feel pain in the bones near the armpit, swollen lymph nodes and general pains in the body.
10. Repeated Infections
If you’re going through recurring infections, such as bronchitis or pneumonia, in addition to other infections, make sure to get it checked because it might be a definite symptom of cancer.
