Throughout life, busyness is the norm. However, amid the hustle and bustle, subjective sensitivity to bodily anomalies may decrease, or even if one perceives discomfort or abnormalities, they might be forgotten due to busyness.
This is a kind of "neglect" of bodily abnormalities caused by busyness, whether intentional or unintentional, where the body's "alarms" do not receive sufficient attention and consideration. In the morning, just after waking up, individuals seem to be more "sensitive" to bodily abnormalities in perception. With no busy tasks yet, more attention is paid to bodily abnormalities, and some bodily abnormalities indeed tend to occur or manifest more prominently in the morning. Therefore, the morning is a good time to detect bodily abnormalities, seek timely medical attention upon discovery, and avoid procrastination.
Some tumor symptoms often appear in the morning, and once they do, one must be highly vigilant as they may indicate the presence of tumors.
1. Brain Tumor
Headache, vomiting, and blurred vision constitute the "triad of increased intracranial pressure." Any condition that can cause increased intracranial pressure may present with these symptoms, with one of the most common being a brain tumor.
Symptom characteristics:
- Headache: Early morning headaches typically occur around four to five o'clock, often waking the individual from sleep, known as "morning headache" or "early morning headache." They are intermittent, varying in intensity, and may come and go. Walking around or moving alleviates or eliminates the headache. As the condition progresses, the headache intensifies, and its duration increases.
- Vomiting: Headaches may be accompanied by vomiting, also more common in the morning. The vomiting is projectile and seems to "spurt" out, with noticeable relief in pain after vomiting. This vomiting is obviously different from that caused by gastrointestinal diseases and is due to increased intracranial pressure, unrelated to diet and not accompanied by symptoms like abdominal distension or diarrhea. However, it is important to note that conclusions cannot be drawn solely based on symptoms; suspicion is raised, prompting one to promptly seek medical examination.
2. Insulinoma
Belonging to neuroendocrine tumors, insulinomas are functional neuroendocrine tumors capable of secreting hormones. These tumors secrete insulin, leading to increased insulin levels in the body and resulting in symptoms of hypoglycemia (such as fatigue, palpitations, and cold sweats).
Symptom characteristics: Difficulty waking up in the morning or frequent occurrences of feeling drowsy and lethargic, making it difficult to get out of bed under normal routines. These are actually manifestations of hypoglycemia. Of course, these symptoms do not definitively point to insulinoma; they merely suggest the possibility of hypoglycemia, and further investigation is needed to ascertain the cause of hypoglycemia. Following this lead, some people eventually discover that insulinoma is the culprit. If there are frequent unexplained episodes of drowsiness in the morning or even inability to wake up, or if there are episodes of altered consciousness or fainting after prolonged fasting, prompt medical attention is necessary to investigate the possibility of insulinoma. However, insulinoma does not only manifest as hypoglycemic symptoms; it may also present with symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, and bloating.
Symptoms may occur at any time but are more easily noticed in the morning.
3. Lung Cancer
Some individuals frequently cough, and their cough seems more severe upon waking up in the morning, characterized by a dry cough with little or no sputum. If they are elderly individuals with a history of long-term smoking, lung cancer should indeed be suspected. However, this cannot be said to be specific to the morning, but rather, the individual may simply perceive it more clearly in the morning. Alternatively, during the day, attention may be diverted by other matters, leading to less notice or importance being attached to it. Furthermore, cough symptoms may be lighter during sleep at night and become more pronounced upon waking up and moving around in the morning. Coughing is not unique to lung cancer, but the cough associated with lung cancer may have certain differences (remember, this is not absolute but rather for reference).
Possible characteristics of cough associated with lung cancer:
- Persistent paroxysmal irritant dry cough, often with a sensation of incomplete coughing. It may also involve a small amount of sputum or frothy sputum. If accompanied by blood or blood-tinged sputum, extra attention is warranted.
- Long-standing cough: Coughing persists without improvement for a long time, lasting for over two weeks, and should be given special attention.
- Unknown cause: It is neither a cold nor related to pharyngitis, laryngitis, or pneumonia, prompting consideration of lung cancer, especially in high-risk populations such as middle-aged and elderly individuals with a history of long-term smoking.
- Change in the nature of existing cough: For example, some people, such as long-term smokers, may have intermittent coughing. If the nature of the cough changes one day, heightened vigilance is required for timely examination. If the cough exhibits the above characteristics, it does not necessarily mean it is lung cancer, but suspicion is high, prompting prompt medical attention for further examination to establish a diagnosis.
