There is no need to panic if these physical examinations are abnormal
Carotid artery plaque, arrhythmia, premature heart beats, increased transaminase indicators... In the physical examination report, some abnormal results make many people feel uneasy, but in fact there is no need to worry too much, and some even do not need treatment.
What are some common physical examination abnormalities that should not be overtreated?
How to deal with such exceptions correctly?
In this issue, we will take you to take stock of those mild abnormalities that you don’t need to panic about.
mild carotid atheroma
Many people feel panic when they see "carotid plaque" in the physical examination report. Does this mean that they are prone to stroke?
"Carotid artery atherosclerotic plaque is a layer of waxy lipid deposited on the arterial wall, which reduces the elasticity of the artery and narrows the lumen." Xu Aimin, deputy director of the Physical Examination Center of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, introduced that hypertension, hyperlipidemia, Diabetes, smoking, alcoholism, and lack of exercise are all risk factors for carotid plaque formation.
Overall, the formation of carotid plaque is more closely related to age. With age, even without the above risk factors, carotid plaque may appear.
The atherosclerotic plaque of a person's carotid artery begins to appear indistinctly around adolescence, becomes obvious after the age of 40, and almost always has different degrees of carotid artery plaque after the age of 60.
Experts point out that most carotid artery plaques do not require surgical treatment, only when the plaque grows to a certain extent, causing a certain degree of narrowing of blood vessels and affecting the normal blood supply of the brain, surgical treatment is required.
"If it is a mild plaque, for example, there are only 1-2 hard plaques and the area of vascular stenosis does not exceed 50%, it is particularly important to actively control the risk factors that cause carotid plaque during regular review." Xu Aimin emphasized that it is necessary to maintain Develop a healthy eating habit of less oil and less salt, eat more vegetables, eat less fat, and exercise appropriately. By improving your lifestyle, you can slow down the growth of plaques.
Premature heart beats and arrhythmias
Among the abnormalities of cardiac examination reported in the physical examination, "premature heartbeat" and "arrhythmia" are high-frequency words. Are these abnormalities diseases?
Need treatment?
occasional premature beats
Xu Aimin introduced that the beating of the heart is regular, and if it beats suddenly ahead of time, it is called premature beat (premature beat).
Generally, the number of premature beats per minute is less than 6, which is occasional premature beats, mostly physiological premature beats, which tend to appear in situations such as strenuous exercise, excessive fatigue, staying up late, smoking and drinking, drinking too much coffee and strong tea, and emotional agitation.
As the age increases, some people will have premature heart beats. If the dynamic electrocardiogram assessment is occasional and there are no clear symptoms, most of them can be observed carefully, and drug treatment is usually not required.
If premature beats occur frequently, accompanied by chest tightness, shortness of breath, or other heart diseases, you need to go to the cardiology department for evaluation in time.
sinus arrhythmia
"There is a sinoatrial node on the right atrium of the human body, which can automatically and rhythmically generate current. Every time the sinoatrial node has an impulse, the heart beats once, which is called 'sinus rhythm' in medicine. Therefore, normal heart rhythm It’s called sinus rhythm.” According to Xu Aimin, sinus rhythm is relatively regular, but the number of heartbeats, that is, the heart rate, changes all the time.
"Sinus arrhythmia" is a normal physiological phenomenon. It may be related to people's emotions during ECG, such as anger, tension, excitement, including after taking certain drugs, which will affect the heart rhythm results. Generally, after a rest Can be relieved.
If there are no obvious symptoms such as palpitation, sinus arrhythmia generally does not require special treatment.
Sinus arrhythmia often occurs in children and adolescents during the developmental period. It does not require special treatment, and most of them will return to normal as they grow older.
Blood routine slightly exceeded or decreased
In the physical examination report, the corresponding reference value will be marked after the routine inspection items such as blood routine test, and the reference value usually represents the normal range of the examination.
According to experts, when a certain index exceeds or falls below the reference value, "↑" and "↓" will appear on the physical examination report.
The value that exceeds the standard or decreases is only a little more (less), which is called a critical value in laboratory medicine.
"Critical values in routine blood tests are very common, because there are many factors that affect the results of blood tests." Xu Aimin introduced, such as the location of blood collection, storage method and delivery time, gender, age, altitude of residence and even Including seasonal changes may interfere with the inspection results.
Therefore, when the index is only a little high or low and there are no symptoms, doctors generally think there is no problem.
Experts remind that if there are indeed some uncomfortable symptoms, even if the difference between the test results and the normal reference value is relatively small, it may be an early indication of the disease, and further examination and diagnosis are required.
Three types of abnormal urine routine indicators
After a tube of urine is handed over to the doctor, you can get a urine routine report with dozens of indicators. Experts pointed out that even if the results of the following indicators are abnormal, they may be normal——
Positive urobilinogen: drinking less water may cause abnormalities
Concentrated urine, dark yellow urine, will appear positive for urobilinogen.
For example, when drinking little water or urinating for the first time in the morning, the color will be darker.
If the bilirubin is also positive at the same time, it is necessary to check the blood bilirubin level to rule out hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases.
High/low urine specific gravity: not drinking enough or too much water may be abnormal
Urine specific gravity reflects how concentrated the urine is.
When sweating a lot and drinking insufficient water, the urine specific gravity may be higher than the normal value, that is, a false positive; on the contrary, after drinking a lot of water, the urine is diluted, the urine specific gravity may be lower than the normal value, and a false negative occurs.
Positive urine ketones: starvation may cause abnormalities
Ketone bodies are the products of fat catabolism, which should be negative in urine normally, but positive in the urine of patients with diabetic ketoacidosis.
However, if there is no positive urine sugar, if a thin person has not eaten for a long time, the urine ketone body may be positive due to hunger.
Occasional elevated transaminase levels
In the blood test test sheet, the word "transaminase ↑" makes people feel nervous.
Xu Aimin introduced that taking certain drugs, drinking alcohol, staying up late or strenuous exercise can all cause elevated transaminases, and the transaminases can return to normal after drug withdrawal or rest.
However, if the transaminase continues to increase, it is suspected that it is a liver and gallbladder disease, and further examination is required.
asymptomatic prostate calcification
"Calcification of the prostate is like a small cut in the hand, infected with inflammation, and scars are left after the inflammatory reaction." Xu Aimin introduced that the calcification of the prostate is the scar left after prostatitis, and has no negative impact on the body.
Most people do not have any symptoms and signs when they are checked out. Generally, regular review is enough, and there is no need for excessive worry and treatment.
However, if there are symptoms of prostatitis (such as frequent urination, urgency, incontinence, perineal discomfort, back pain, etc.), the cause must be identified and treated in time.
Asymptomatic bone spurs
"Bone spurs are actually a protective reaction of the body. During the aging process of the body, due to uneven force, local bones are stimulated unevenly, which leads to the occurrence of bone spurs." Xu Aimin introduced, as long as there is no inflammation However, the bone spur is actually a protective change to the body, so you can completely ignore it at this time.
Experts remind that if you have already grown bone spurs, you must try to delay the aging of the joints.
Avoid harmful actions and follow the "nine-character principle" - be active, use sparingly, don't try to be aggressive, and don't deliberately go climbing mountains or stairs.
Most cysts without compression or inflammation
"Cyst is a kind of benign mass. Some are single or multiple. Generally, it has little impact on health, so there is no need to be nervous when you find it." Xu Aimin said that when the cyst is small, there are generally no clinical symptoms, and the cyst grows slowly. The chance of malignant transformation is small. As long as the cyst does not cause compression symptoms, organ dysfunction or inflammation and infection to the surrounding organs, there is basically no need for special treatment, and regular and regular review is enough.
According to experts, the common ones are cervical cysts, liver cysts, and kidney cysts.
Among them, most cervical cysts are caused by chronic inflammation, and the probability of canceration is very low. Generally, no treatment is required, and regular review is enough.
Liver cysts are mostly congenital with a low incidence and will not affect liver function.
As long as the cyst does not exceed 5 cm and does not cause physical discomfort or some clinical symptoms, no medical or surgical treatment is required.
You only need to follow up regularly to observe the changes in size.
If the liver cysts and kidney cysts are too large, they may oppress adjacent organs and cause discomfort symptoms, so they should be treated actively.
In case of complications, such as cyst rupture and intracapsular hemorrhage, surgical treatment is required.
(Wang Meihua, People's Daily Overseas Edition)