Swollen lymph nodes
In the occurrence of any disease, as well as maintaining health, the state of the immune system plays a key role. Immunity is an "army" that protects the body from harmful effects, and in the event of a disease, when the "defense is broken" and the pathology has nevertheless developed, it is responsible for its destruction and return to the status quo, that is, a healthy state. The organs of the immune system are the lymph nodes - filters through which the lymph flows, being cleansed at the same time. Lymph nodes are located in groups, in key places of the great vessels. The enlargement of the lymph nodes indicates that the node is not quite coping with its function, or, continuing the analogy, that "the filter is clogged."
There are three main reasons for swollen lymph nodes. The first and most common is inflammation in the area of responsibility of this lymph node. So, if the axillary lymph node is enlarged, the inflammation can be in the mammary gland, or the arm, or the chest, if there is an increase in the lymph nodes under the lower jaw, then, as a rule, we are talking about inflammation in the throat, teeth or tongue, the inguinal lymph nodes increase with inflammatory diseases of the pelvic organs, and so on. Inflammation of the lymph node is secondary, that is, it occurs in response to another inflammation.
The second reason for the enlargement of lymph nodes is their defeat by metastases in malignant diseases. Tumor cells, breaking away from the main tumor, are carried throughout the body with the flow of blood and lymph. Most often, they settle in the filter closest to the swollen, that is, the sentinel lymph node. In it, a malignant cell gives rise to a daughter tumor, and a metastasis in the lymph node is formed. Metastases, as a rule, are single, and are usually diagnosed after the detection of the main tumor, although there are exceptions when, having paid attention to the enlarged lymph node, they find a metastasis in it, and then its primary source.
The third reason for the increase in lymph nodes is a tumor lesion directly in the lymph tissue of the node. In this case, the tumor does not enter one of the lymph nodes from another place, but originates in it. This disease is called lymphoma, or lymphogranulomatosis, and also cancer of the lymph nodes. It is even less common than lymph node metastases. With lymphoma, both single lymph nodes and whole groups of them can be affected. In a similar way, groups of lymph nodes increase in leukemia, when lymphatic cells are involved in the malignant process.
With inflammation, the lymph nodes on one side are usually affected, one node or a packet, when the enlarged lymph nodes are felt, they are painful. If we are talking about tumor diseases, then the lymph nodes can be affected singly (metastasis, nodular form of lymphoma) or massively (leukemia, generalized form of lymphoma), in this case they are painless.
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