Gao Han (middle) from the CQHCWC poses for a photo with local patients in Chamdo, Tibet. [Photo/CQHCWC]

The city of Chamdo in Tibet autonomous region has many people suffering from nodular goiter, and due to the lack of understanding of the disease, many don't visit a doctor until severe symptoms such as swallowing and breathing difficulties begin appearing.

That is according to Gao Han, a deputy chief physician at the Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children (CQHCWC) in Southwest China's Chongqing and a member of Chongqing's fifth medical team to aid Tibet.

While promoting thyroid disease diagnosis and treatment technology to local hospitals in Tibet, Gao also analyzed the condition of local patients.

According to Gao, some local patients have nodules of larger than 10 centimeters, causing severe airway compression. This not only causes great physical and mental pain for patients, but also greatly increases the difficulty of operations and can even be life-threatening.

Since her service in Chamdo, Gao has received more than 50 patients with thyroid diseases, including two cases of thyroid cancer and 39 cases of nodular thyroid tumors.

She and her partners also successfully completed nine thyroid surgeries with help from local hospitals, and all patients have been discharged from the hospital.

Moving forward, the CQHCWC will send more medical workers to Tibet to promote advanced medical technology in local hospitals and make every effort to help them spread knowledge regarding breast and thyroid diseases.