Risk Factors Associated with Thyroid Cancer

Thyroid cancer can happen at any stage and to any body. Here are some of the risk factors that are associated with thyroid cancer:-

Radiation therapy in the past- in case of previous treatment of radiation in the neck area or radiation exposure due to nuclear fall out may cause this cancer.

History in family and genetics- if one of your parents carries the MEN2A or MEN2B gene then this genetic mutation can cause cancer. Also with case of familial medullary cancer running in families the chances are as good as 50% of you developing this cancer.

Sex-the reasons still remain unknown why females thrice as men are more vulnerable to this cancer.

Reproductive history- females who have kids after 30 yrs of age are more prone to this condition. It’s better to have kids at earlier stage.

Age- it has been found that papillary and thyroid cancer can grow at any stage in life, but it is more seen in young adults. Sporadic medullary cancer may happen in adults but the familial medullary cancer may happen in kids in fact even in infants.

Symptom’s of thyroid cancer-
The most frequent symptom is the formation of lump. This can be felt at any part of the neck, while the other symptoms are comparatively rare. Pain can be experienced and can be early warning bells of cancer. Certain patients may complain with tightness in their neck. They may even complain with difficulty in breathing and swallowing. The lymph nodes may be swollen and roughness can be felt in the inner neck. In any of these cases it is better to seek the advice of a doctor.

But it necessarily may not mean that you have thyroid cancer. It may even be due to goiter, infection in throat, inflammation or benign nodule. This can be examined and can be treated accordingly.