Are thyroid nodules a serious disease?

Are thyroid nodules a serious disease? Does it affect life span? How long can you live?

What is a thyroid nodule? 

Benign thyroid nodules do not affect the life of the patient, and malignant nodules need to be determined according to the nature, treatment effect and whether they recur.

The vast majority of thyroid nodules are benign, and timely treatment of the nodules can dissipate, will not cause any impact on the patient, and will not affect the patient’s survival time; if the nodules are relatively large, they will also compress the trachea, esophagus and nerves , Make the patient have difficulty breathing, swallowing or hoarse voice, surgical treatment can alleviate this symptom, and will not affect the survival of the patient.

5% to 15% of single thyroid nodules become malignant nodules. If a malignant nodule is diagnosed and the nodule is relatively large, prompt surgical intervention to remove the nodule will not affect the survival of the patient, such as papillary cancer.

However, if the malignant nature of the nodules is more serious, such as medullary cancer, undifferentiated cancer, etc., it may affect the survival of the patient. There are still some patients with malignant nodules that have a good prognosis through surgical resection, but the malignant nodules recur after a period of time and have metastasized. This situation will have a serious impact on the survival of patients.

(source:internet, reference only)

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