{"id":2912,"date":"2019-01-08T04:49:54","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T04:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/veryhealthy.life\/?p=2912"},"modified":"2020-07-13T04:30:22","modified_gmt":"2020-07-13T04:30:22","slug":"9-hidden-lymphoma-symptoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/veryhealthy.life\/9-hidden-lymphoma-symptoms\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Hidden Lymphoma Symptoms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Lymphoma is a type of cancer that affects the lymph nodes of your body. These are parts of a widespread system called the lymphatic system, which also includes organs like the spleen. It has other functions, like allowing fluids to circulate through your body, and helping in the processing of fat. There are white cells inside the nodes of the lymphatic system, and when they mutate, they can become a tumor and cause cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other tissues in the lymphatic system can be affected by lymphoma as well. The typical symptom of lymphoma is swollen nodes that you can feel under your skin, especially under your armpits, on your neck or throat or your groin area. However, there are other symptoms that are less evident but could be a hidden sign that you are developing a lymphoma. All these symptoms require a medical diagnosis because of none of them si specific of this condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Pain<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Although the swelling of nodes that is characteristic of lymphoma is very rarely painful, if you have lymphoma you could feel pain somewhere else in your body. When your white cells become malignant, they start reproducing at a pace too high, and the increasing number of them can press your tissues from the inside, which is felt as severe pain. The pain will be felt wherever the cancer is growing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if your abdominal organs or the abdominal part of your lymphatic vessels are affected, you will feel stomach cramps. If the cancer is growing in your head, you will feel a headache. The pain will always appear to start at random, with no apparent explanation. In some cases, the consumption of alcohol can trigger cramps, although the reasons are yet unknown. The pain is severe as all malignant cancers, and requires medical attention and a diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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2. Weight loss<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is a symptom that is very common with all types of cancer, not only lymphoma. However, it is rarely an obvious symptom, and people often don’t realize there is something strange with their bodies until the loss of weight has been significant. Even if in some cases lymphoma can cause a certain level of loss of appetite, with the consequent loss of weight, even if the person’s eating habits remain as normal, they will lose weight at a relatively high pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because all types of malignant cancer consume a lot of energy from the body. The cells that constitute a tumor reproduce at an abnormally high rate and they live long past their due time, so they absorb big amounts of energy from your system. They are the morbid equivalent of a constant workout, so the effect of a malignant tumor very frequently decreases a person’s body weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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3. Fever<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is a very specific symptom, and it can refer to a extremely wide variety of causes, illnesses or conditions. Fever itself is never a sign of any condition in particular, but always a sign that there is something going on with your body. Usually, your body develops a fever response when it is under attack by microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses, and the purpose of the fever is to help eliminate these pernicious elements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tumors such as those of lymphoma can cause fever too because the body reacts to strange elements that are harmful to your health, in this case, the white cells that have gone astray and are wreaking havoc in your system. The fever caused by lymphoma can be continual or intermittent, and it often responds well to the usual medication. However, as the cause isn’t cured by fever medication, the temperature always comes back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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4. Increased rate of infections<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the main purposes of the lymphatic system is to aid your immune system in its fight against infections. Bacteria, viruses and other harmful elements can cause a variety of diseases, and the white cells of your body are there to stop them. They can travel through the lymph contained in your lymphatic vessels and quickly reach a point of infection, where they engage in battle against microorganisms, destroying them if they succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When your lymphatic system is affected by lymphoma or any other condition, it doesn’t work as well as it should, and white cells have trouble reaching their destinations and doing their job. For that reason, you are more likely to catch infections, from common colds to more severe illnesses, and when they do, they last for longer and it takes a longer time for them to go away at last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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5. Shortness of breath<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Shortness of breath is a symptom of an advanced state of some forms of lymphoma. In some cases, the tumor can develop inside your chest cavity, and even inside your lungs. In the beginning, there is no particular symptom, besides perhaps some pain or discomfort, but as time goes by, and the cells of your tumor reproduce and grow, the tumor itself will become bigger and press your chest cavity from the inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will make it more difficult for you to breathe, especially if the tumor is inside your lungs, partially blocking your respiratory system. If this is the case, you will experience shortness of breath even if you are not exercising or doing any aerobic activity. People with such a tumor have difficulties taking a deep breath, so eventually they feel short of breath, because this condition changes their breathing pattern even if they don’t realize it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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6. Fatigue<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Fatigue is yet another symptom of lymphoma that can go unnoticed for quite a long time. People could believe that they are not sleeping well, or overstressed by their daily activities, or simply low in vitamins, and not realize that what is behind their feeling of tiredness and sleepiness is something more serious than that. Just as fever, fatigue is a very specific symptom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, it could be caused by different things, so having fatigue is never in itself a clear sign of lymphoma or any other particular problem for that matter. In the case of lymphoma, fatigue is often caused by the cells that form the tumors, because they absorb and consume a high level of energy, draining the system. Also, your bone marrow, which is part of your lymphatic system as well, is the part of your body that makes red cells. If your bone marrow is affected by lymphoma, you could have anemia, which will further increase your fatigue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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7. Excessive sweating<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the strangest symptoms of lymphoma, as in, one of the symptoms that has been less successfully explained by researchers so far, is excessive sweating. This is characteristic of lymphoma, and one of the main symptoms doctors look for when they suspect there is something wrong with your lymphatic system. Patients often report sweating too much when they engage in physical activity, even if it is mild or moderate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the most evident manifestation of this symptom is excessive sweating at night. In some cases, people literally wake up in the middle of the night covered in sweat, on wet sheets. Scientists are still unsure of the exact mechanism through which this happens. They don’t know why lymphoma induces such abundant sweat at night, but they have some theories. Some say it is a consequence of a disrupted immune system, which works more when we sleep than when we are awake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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8. Digestive problems<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many lymphatic nodes are located around the groin and the abdomen, as well as organs such as the spleen. When one or more tumors develop inside the abdominal cavity, they can affect the digestive system by proximity. This means that the digestive system itself, like the intestines and the stomach, is not ill per se, but the problems surrounding it can affect it indirectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, an abdominal lymphoma can cause the lymph to build up in the abdomen, and the accumulation of fluid will add inner pressure to the belly, causing a constant feeling of fullness even if the person didn’t eat a large meal. Other possible symptoms include indigestion and diarrhea, possibly due to the link between the immune system and the intestines. Unlike fever, digestive problems caused by lymphoma are rarely relieved by medication, because the physical cause of this disturbances is outside the digestive system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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9. Itching<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The last symptom of this list can also go unnoticed, especially because it mimics symptoms from very different conditions such as allergies and atopic dermatitis. In some cases, people with lymphoma feel a constant itching sensation on their skin. It could be localized, always itching at the same place, or generalized, with no specific area where the symptom is experienced. Apparently, the reason for this itching is not found in the skin itself, like in many other conditions that cause such symptoms, but instead in the nervous system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cells that make the lymphatic tumors secrete certain substances that are then released into the bloodstream. These substances are irritants for the nerves, and when a sensitive nerve gets irritated, the brain decodes this stimulus as an itch on the skin. This happens because the nerve connects the brain to the skin, so the brain believes that the irritation is actually a signal coming from the surface of the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\r\n

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