Skip to main content

How do you get Pancreatic Cancer?

By
RIP STEVE JOBS 1955-2011
We woke up to the sad news that Apple Icon Steve Jobs had passed away. Inventor of the iPod (music in your pocket), iPhone (cool phone) and iPad (really cool computer thing in your hands).

He died after battling Pancreatic Cancer for some time. A friend of mine asked me how you get this cancer and I decided to blog about it so that you may look out for the symptoms and avoid the risk factors.

 

Pancreatic Cancer Causes

The main recognized risk factors for pancreatic cancer include the following:
  • Smoking

  • Advanced age

  • Male sex - The male-to-female ratio of pancreatic cancer is 1.3:1.

  • Chronic pancreatitis - Inflammation of the pancreas, usually from excessive alcohol intake or gallstones

  • Diabetes mellitus

  • Family history of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic Cancer Symptoms

The main symptoms of pancreatic cancer include the following:


  • Pain in the abdomen, the back, or both

  • Weight loss, often associated with the following:

    • Loss of appetite (anorexia)

    • Bloating

    • Diarrhea or fatty bowel movements that float in water (steatorrhea)

    • Rarely may present with new diabetes in a person with weight loss and nausea

  • Jaundice (yellowing of the skin)
The symptoms of pancreatic cancer are generally vague and can easily be attributed to other less serious and more common conditions. This lack of specific symptoms explains the high number of people who have a more advanced stage of disease when pancreatic cancer is discovered.

When to Seek Medical Care

Seeking immediate medical attention is important if any of the symptoms of pancreatic cancer occur. If pain, unexplained weight loss, or jaundice persists despite initial medical treatments, further evaluation should be pursued in a timely fashion.

Find out more from emedicine.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What's your 'Real Age'?

By
RealAge, Inc. is an American media corporation that provides health information to consumers. The company’s stated mission is to encourage consumers to maximize their health and wellness by making their "RealAge" younger. It was founded by media medic, Michael Roizen , currently the chief wellness officer at The Cleveland Clinic . log on to realage.com So basically its a website which asks you a bunch of questions then it tells you what age you really are. It will ask you things like from 'how much do you drink' to 'how many orgasms do you have a week' and so on. It is a long quiz. Apparently since it started in 1999, 27 million people have taken the test. Guess everyone wants to live life to the youngest! So of course I took the test..and I am not revealing my real age. I was appalled to say the least! And now they are sending me all sorts of suggestions about how I can 'regain my youth' e.g:   Burn More Fat with These...
Post a Comment
Read more

Saving Mandy

By
When you have influence, it is your duty to stand up for others and help others up too We had so much in common.  We were both born and grew up in the same sleepy hometown of Bulawayo, almost same neighborhood. We attended the same high school, some years apart, but both proud and loud Convent girls. At some point, we must have taken the same Parklands surburb bus from City Hall to home. Our siblings almost same age-groups; our families and friends intertwined all the way back to roots in Dombodema rural home. We both went on to study medicine, she did dentistry, I did MBChB. But eventually we both did a masters in Public Health in the same programme at the University of Zimbabwe. We both got married and set up home in Harare. Bulawayo girls stick together when they arrive in the big bad city. When I had Anashe, she had Siyabonga. We were both pregnant in 2018. Being senior medical professionals we both had access to the “best” medical care. We both had Cesarian Sections...
60 comments
Read more

Is Everyday One Word or Two? English Test Woes

By
IELTS (pronounced alternatively by people as EYE-Elts and EYE-Lets) is the standardized international English test from the UK and Australia, equivalent to Toefl for the US. I had to do it for a myriad of reasons but mainly to prove to the aforesaid 'Commonwealthers' that I can indeed communicate in English. Disgruntled but excited I booked my test for this past Saturday and pictured myself getting 98% because ‘I even have a blog-o!’ How good must my English be? Woke up at the crack of dawn!   I had received warnings of non-refundable expulsion for late-comers so my senses were acutely aware of my alarm clock. Thinking I was too early, I arrived to find a horde (word I used in my speaking test) of anxious-looking people already waiting outside the British Council building. I immediately befriended the most cheerful face sitting at the end of the line who was to become my friend for the whole day. Payal had carried 5 pens, 5 pencils, several rubbers and a sparkling sharpener...
Post a Comment
Read more