How is hodgkin’s disease diagnosed?
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! Today, we’ll be learning about the diagnosis of a condition that nobody wants to have: Hodgkin’s disease. Exciting stuff, am I right? Let’s get started!
What is Hodgkin’s Disease?
Before diving into how it gets diagnosed, let’s first talk about what Hodgkin’s Disease actually is. It is a type of lymphoma (cancer that affects your lymphatic system) which causes cells in your immune system to grow abnormally or out of control.
Symptoms
Now you might be wondering – how do I know if I have this delightful disease? Well folks here are some indicators:
– Swollen lymph nodes
– Fatigue
– Unintentional weight loss
– Night sweats
If you experience any or all these symptoms with such intensity that you’re basically on WebMD reassessed then you should definitely visit a healthcare professional ASAP.
When Should You Get Tested For It?
As mentioned above, experiencing those noticeable symptoms raises an alarm. Though did ya know “it’s recommended to start getting regular cancer screenings at age 50.” So keep getting yourself checked before time no matter any indication.
Let The Diagnosis Begin!
Aaaannnd drum roll please… Time for the moment everyone has been waiting for cue fireworks and light show…The process through which one lands himself/herself/themselves/heyself obviously in medical care!
Medical History And Physical Exam
This always starts with somebody asking whether or not there were times when they had been having reoccurring symptoms earlier than it being detected now.
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| Name | Who | Where | Age |
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| Lizzy|Mauve|mars |34|
After that, a medical professional usually conducts what we call a physical examination which entails poking around the suspect nodes in question with a finger… Yeup it’s all too surrealistic
Imaging Tests
If the Phase one of poking (aka Physical exam) shows visible signs or symptoms, then imaging tests come into play. They include CT scans, MRIs, and PET scans amongst others but are some of more commonly used investigation tool..basically equipment is used to dig deeper by portraying images inside your body.
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| Name | Who | Where | Age |
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Biopsy
When a suspicious area is detected during an imaging test, they need to be double-checked for finality purposes. The gold standard being was called biopsies{fancy terminology alert}. Cells from the suspected lymph node tissue get scrutinized under a microscope by pathologists who make professional opinions about what type of cancer might be present based on the cell appearances.
How Is Hodgkin’s Disease Staged?
So say you fall into that unfortunate percentage who do suffer from this terrible illness {God forbid}….It’s critical for physicians to have an understanding of how much your disease has spread before determining which treatment would work best- hence there is staging involved.
For instance:
1. Stage I – Cancer registered within just one lymph-node group
2. Stage II – Two or more lymph-node areas affected both above and/or below thoracic diaphragm
3. Stage III – Lymph-nodes zones both above and below the diaphragm are affected
4. Stage IV- Announcing an explosive in lymphoma cancer, where any stage or organs may be involved.
Conclusion
And there you have it friends, we made little overview of what Hodgkin’s disease is and how it can be diagnosed. We covered topics under medical history and physical examination to more fancy slash terrifying methods like biopsies.
In a nutshell: If you suspect that you’re experiencing issues with your lymphatic system such as swollen nodes then definitely seek out for help from a healthcare professional sooner rather than later!