Eat less while hot to prevent esophageal cancer!

“What are the most common symptoms of esophageal cancer?”

"There is no need to do gastroscopy very frequently."

"The clavicle fossa is a bit blocked and tight. I was very worried after looking up information online."

…

On the evening of May 23, Chief Physician Ye Feng, Deputy Director of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University and Director of the Department of Oncology, Chief Physician Li Jiayi and Deputy Chief Physician Zhao Xin of the Department of Oncology were guests in the live broadcast room of Fujian Health News "The Great Doctor Lectures" to popularize knowledge on the prevention and treatment of esophageal cancer.

So far, about 250,000 patients from all over the country have watched and replayed the video online on multiple platforms. During the live broadcast, the experts patiently and meticulously popularized science, and frequently made golden sentences.

Fujian is a high-risk area for esophageal cancer. Don't ignore these details.

Will eating food while hot cause esophageal cancer?

Ye Feng: Hot water above 65℃ is a Class 2A carcinogen identified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer under the World Health Organization. In addition, long-term chronic stimulation such as spicy food, tobacco, nitrites, aflatoxin, etc. may gradually cause some changes in the esophageal mucosal epithelium and transition to some cancer triggers.

What are the most common symptoms of esophageal cancer?

Li Jiayi: The early symptoms of esophageal cancer are easily overlooked. If you have difficulty swallowing repeatedly, you should be alert. At first, you may feel choked when eating eggs or dry rice, and gradually you may feel uncomfortable even drinking porridge or eating soft foods such as noodles. However, don't wait until you have difficulty drinking water before going to the hospital for a check-up. This often indicates local lesions in the esophagus, and pain and burning pain behind the sternum have already occurred. If you feel a new lump on your neck, there may be a problem with the cervical lymph nodes.

How to detect esophageal cancer early?

Zhao Xin: Early detection mainly relies on screening. The first is the high-risk population for esophageal cancer, such as Henan and Fujian, which are high-risk areas for esophageal cancer . The second is patients with a family history , that is, people whose immediate relatives have a history of esophageal cancer. If both of the first and second items are met, there is a 20%-50% probability that esophageal cancer may be inherited.

Third, bad living and eating habits can easily lead to the occurrence of esophageal cancer, such as eating too fast, eating too hot food, chewing betel nuts or eating high-salt and spicy food, smoking, staying up late, eating moldy food, etc.

How to do a good gastroscopy?

Ye Feng: There is no need to do gastroscopy very frequently. Normal people can do it once every five years. If there are minor problems found after gastroscopy, follow the doctor's advice and have regular checkups.

Is surgery necessary after esophageal cancer is discovered? How to recover after surgery? What are the treatments for esophageal cancer?

Li Jiayi: Currently, minimally invasive treatment of esophageal cancer is the first choice, including minimally invasive treatment under laparoscopy and robot-assisted radical resection of esophageal cancer.

Esophageal cancer surgery is not an immediate procedure. For inoperable esophageal cancer, concurrent chemoradiotherapy becomes the standard treatment. Advanced stage treatment is mainly based on drug therapy.

Currently, radiotherapy and chemotherapy have become the mainstream methods of treating many tumors. The vast majority of patients cooperate well with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and except for a few days of fatigue, most can resume normal life. Therefore, patients should not be too afraid of treatment.

Immunotherapy has made great progress in esophageal cancer recently and has become the fastest growing method for treating esophageal cancer. Currently, only a few targeted sites have particularly good targeted drugs for targeted therapy of esophageal cancer.

In short, only by combining various treatment methods can esophageal cancer achieve the best treatment effect.

What should I do if reflux esophagitis occurs after surgery?

Li Jiayi: The proportion of reflux esophagitis after esophageal cancer surgery is quite high.

First, the patient needs to relearn how to eat , such as drinking a sip of lukewarm water to burp out the air in the stomach, and then eating slowly. The food should be neither hot nor cold, and try not to irritate the esophagus.

Eat dry food first and then drink liquid food, eat small and frequent meals , do not lie down immediately after eating, sit for a while, or walk around a little. If the reflux symptoms are very severe, you can raise the head of the bed 15-20 degrees or use a higher pillow. Also avoid some phenomena that increase abdominal pressure, such as coughing, constipation, etc.

How to perform exercise rehabilitation after esophageal cancer surgery?

Li Jiayi: In fact, 60% of human health depends on a healthy lifestyle, such as healthy diet, psychology, and sleep. We also encourage regular exercise, quitting smoking and drinking, active learning, and active social interaction.

Exercise should be gradual and tailored to the individual. An exercise prescription should be formulated under the guidance of a professional sports rehabilitation therapist, including exercise intensity, method, endurance, etc.

Tai Chi, Ba Duan Jin, etc. are recommended, or you can stick to jogging, skipping rope, swimming, etc. The key is to choose a sport that you like and can stick to.

Netizens in the live broadcast room sought help from online medical experts who patiently answered their questions

That night, many netizens who watched the live broadcast raised their questions to the experts, and the three experts patiently answered them one by one. The following are some of the netizens' questions and answers:

The reexamination is normal, but there is still a tingling sensation in the body?

Netizen Qiqi asked: My father is 60 years old and he had esophageal cancer surgery 4 years ago. The CT report of the follow-up in March showed normal results, and there was no recurrence or metastasis. However, he has been feeling tingling in his back and neck recently. Does it have anything to do with esophageal cancer?

Zhao Xin said that bone metastasis and liver metastasis will cause tingling pain. If tumor recurrence and metastasis are ruled out, you should also pay attention to other reasons such as cervical spondylosis, shingles, etc. causing the pain. It is recommended to seek medical attention nearby for examination.

The clavicle fossa is a bit blocked and tight. I was very worried after looking up information online.

A 26-year-old young man said that he suddenly felt a blockage and tightness in his clavicle the day before yesterday. He checked online and was worried that it was esophageal cancer. Now he feels uncomfortable eating.

The doctor said that this may not be related to esophageal cancer . Although esophageal cancer is closely related to lifestyle, the age of onset is generally middle-aged and elderly, and the probability of onset in young people is very low. Therefore, this young man does not need to be nervous. Think about whether he is in a bad mood recently, staying up late, or drinking, smoking, etc. If the symptoms do persist, you can consult a doctor nearby. But adjust your lifestyle first, and maybe the symptoms will gradually ease.

A 75-year-old patient has advanced esophageal cancer. What else can the family do?

A netizen asked: My father is 75 years old and has advanced esophageal cancer. Comprehensive assessment shows that he is old and in poor health. He cannot undergo chemotherapy or surgery and can only receive conservative treatment. He has not been able to eat in the past few days and even has difficulty swallowing boiled water. He basically relies on intravenous drips to maintain his body's nutrition. What else can the family do?

Ye Feng patiently replied: Elderly people with good physical and nutritional scores can receive active anti-tumor treatment. For example, I treated a 74-year-old man with advanced esophageal cancer. His physical score was about 80 points and his nutrition was basically good. We used immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy and targeted drug treatment for him, and the treatment effect was very good.

The second type of elderly people are indeed old, severely malnourished, and have very poor physical scores. First of all, the malnutrition status should be improved, and multidisciplinary consultations such as nutrition and traditional Chinese medicine should be requested. Secondly, if the elderly can hardly swallow water in the esophagus, the local status should be actively improved. Ask the gastroscopy and interventional or radiotherapy departments to evaluate whether local radiotherapy can be performed? Then evaluate whether there is an opportunity to use medication.

Anchor observation:

Eating food while it's hot seems to be a unique habit of the Chinese. Drink the scalding Kung Fu tea while it's hot! When you're sick, drink more hot water! It's like the warmth goes down your stomach and into your heart. However, eating food while it's hot is not healthy and may damage the esophagus and increase the risk of esophageal cancer.

However, it does not mean that you cannot drink hot soup or hot tea, but no matter how anxious you are, don't eat something too hot. Let the hot drinks or hot food cool down a little, take a sip with your lips, and test it. If it doesn't feel too hot, it's fine.

In addition, Dr. Ye told everyone that pickled, spicy, fried, high-salt, moldy, hard foods, eating too fast and irregular diet, smoking and drinking will increase the risk of esophageal cancer.

Eat less while hot to prevent esophageal cancer!