Asthma is a lung disease that lasts a long time. It causes your airways to become irritated and narrowed, making breathing difficult. Severe asthma might make it difficult to speak or be active. Your doctor may refer to it as a chronic respiratory condition. Many individuals wonder whether asthma can cause lung nodules. Many of us know the term “asthma,” but the term “lung nodules” may be new to many of us. To make you understand it more, I have discussed this term in detail; read more to know about it.
Lung Nodules
Lungs are pink sponge-like organs that include tiny blood arteries (capillaries and veins) and air sacs (alveoli) that carry oxygen to the body while breathing. On a chest x-ray, a lung (pulmonary) nodule is a small oval or round growth in the lung that is commonly referred to as a “spot on the lung” or “coin lesion.”
Lung nodules can be benign (scarring from a previous infection or a benign tumor) or malignant (cancerous tumor, primary lung cancer in the lung, or a secondary focus of malignancy that has metastasized to the lung from another organ). More than half of single pulmonary nodules are benign, but a significant percentage are cancerous.
Lung nodules are quite frequent in adults, showing up to 50% of chest CT scans. Thankfully, only about 5% of lung nodules turn out to be malignant.
Causes
Inflammation from a variety of illnesses can result in benign lung nodules. They are as follows:
- Bacterial infections, such as tuberculosis and pneumonia
- Histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, and aspergillosis are some of the fungal infections.
- Cysts and abscesses in the lungs
- Hamartomas (small clumps of normal cells).
- Rheumatoid arthritis (arthritis that affects the joints).
- Sarcoidosis
Malignant lung nodules are caused by malignancies that begin in the lungs or metastasis (spread) to the lungs from another area of the body. Several factors influence whether a pulmonary nodule is cancerous, including:
- Patient’s age
- Medical history
- Genetic factors
- Size and shape of the nodule(s)
- Current or previous cigarette smoking
- Past exposure to lung-damaging substances (such as asbestos, coal dust, and certain chemicals)
- Whether the nodule has grown in size or is shrinking on consistent chest x-rays or CT scans.
Can Asthma Cause Lung Nodules?
From the causes mentioned earlier, you can observe that lung nodules can be caused by the conditions that result in lung inflammation. As asthma is also a condition that results in lung inflammation, there are chances that asthma can cause lung nodules.
In addition, asthma can also result in severe complications like pneumonia, aspergillosis, etc., resulting in lung nodules. So we can say that asthma can be the reason for asthma module if it remains untreated and the condition worsens.
Symptoms of Lung Nodules
Lung nodules generate no symptoms in about 95% of cases. The majority of these growths are too small to obstruct breathing.
The underlying health problem that caused the nodule, on the other hand, could create symptoms. An infection may experience a fever, cough, and a general unwell feeling. Until cancer has spread, most people with lung cancer have no symptoms. If the condition is detected early on, the following symptoms may occur:
- Breathing problems
- Wheezing or a husky voice
- Coughing up blood or rust-colored phlegm causes chest pain that gets worse with deep breathing, laughing, or coughing.
- Backache
- Weight loss
- Weakness
- Fatigue
Treatment
Non Cancerous Nodules
- If the nodule has less risk of cancer, the doctor may suggest that it be monitored with regular CT scans for 2–5 years to detect any potentially malignant changes, such as an increase in size.
- When determining the appropriate frequency of follow-up scans, a doctor analyses several criteria. The size of the nodule and the person’s overall cancer risk are two of these factors.
- It is unlikely that the lung nodule will become malignant if it does not grow. Further imaging tests may not be required in this scenario.
- If a lung nodule has grown due to continuing infection, such as tuberculosis, the best course of action is to treat the condition.
Cancerous Nodules
- If a biopsy reveals that the nodule is malignant, treatment options are determined by cancer’s type and stage. If the patient’s condition improves, the doctor may adjust the treatment.
- A doctor may suggest a thoracotomy to remove a malignant nodule. The nodule is removed through a chest wall incision in this surgical technique.
- Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and other surgical techniques may treat malignant lung nodules.
Preventive Measures
- Quitting smoking lowers the incidence of malignant lung nodules.
- Avoiding radon exposure
- Preventing exposure to harmful substances at work, such as asbestos, arsenic, or chromium, by taking measures to reduce air pollution within the home.
You can book your appointment with a pulmonologist to know about your lung condition in detail. You can book your appointment with the Best Pulmonologist in Karachi through Marham.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1- Are nodules on the lungs cancerous?
Most lung nodules are benign (non-cancerous). Only 3 to 4 out of 100 lung nodules, or less than 5%, turn out to be cancerous. Lung nodules, however, should always be checked for cancer, even if they’re small.
2- Can allergies result in lung nodules?
The data on the presence of lung nodules suggest that allergic rhinitis (hay fever) may enhance the frequency of LDCT-detected lung nodules in the general population.
3- Do lung nodules go away on their own?
In most cases, Lung nodules turn out to be small benign scars that indicate the site of a previous infection. These nodules could be persistent or spontaneously vanish when the following scan is performed.
4- What is the most prevalent reason for numerous lung nodules?
Multiple nodules in the lungs, also known as multiple pulmonary nodules (MPN), are lung lesions that have two or more lesions. The most common causes of MPN are lung cancers such as Broncho alveolar carcinoma and lymphoma. Infections cause inflammation, which leads to the formation of a granuloma.