Pancreatic Cancer Is a Concern for Women

105 41
According to pancreatic cancer (pan can) statistics, pan can is the third deadliest cancer among women.

A Historic Woman's Death, Due to this Cancer

Sally Ride was the first American woman to travel in space. Unfortunately, she died on July 23, 2012 due to this disease. She had been battling the disease for 17 months; she was 61-years-old.

The National Cancer Institute states that pancreatic cancer is the third deadliest cancer in women. This is most likely because there are not any screening tests to detect pan can. It generally goes undiagnosed until it reaches an advanced stage, which means that pancreatic cancer survival rates are worse than many other cancers that are caught early on. In fact, Ride's survival of 17-months is the average pan can life expectancy. Less than 5 percent of patients with pan can survive over five years.

What is the Pancreas?

The pancreas is located in the abdominal cavity at the back of the stomach, behind some of the other digestive organs, including the gallbladder and small intestine.

The pancreas plays an important role in our digestive process. It is a gland that creates and then releases the digestive juices that break down our food. It is also responsible for producing the hormone insulin, which is essential in balancing our blood sugar levels.

What is Pancreatic Cancer?

This cancer grows within the tissues of the pancreas. Just like other cancers the cause is a genetic mutation of the cells of the pancreas. This causes abnormal growth of the pancreas' cells, which increases the lifespan of those cells. Those accumulated cells lead to the formation of the cancerous tumor inside the pancreas.

Understanding the pan can symptoms and warning signs are essential. If the disease continues to progress, long-term survival is not expected. Below are the symptoms and warning signs of pancreatic cancer in women.

The major problem with pancreatic cancer is the lack of visible symptoms at the early stages of the disease. The symptoms only arise once the tumor has grown larger. Not only that, but it is nearly impossible to detect symptoms at the initial onset of the disease.

Health becomes negatively impacted as the tumor cells increase. If the pan can continues to progress, it may branch out from the pancreas, spreading to other parts of her body. This makes effective treatment extremely difficult.

Many Signs of Pancreatic Cancer Arise within the Gastrointestinal Tract

Symptoms of This Cancer in Women

1. Pain will be experienced in the upper abdominal cavity. This pain will most likely come and go. The degree of her pain may vary. The pain may even become so severe that it affects the back.

2. Bloating of the stomach and nausea are other common symptoms and feeling full after only a light meal. If this continues, the bloated feeling and nausea have the potential to cause weight loss, due to a loss of appetite.

3. As the tumor continues to affect the pancreas, it may not produce enough fat digestive enzymes. This has the ability to cause fats to pass in the stool, because they remain undigested. If your stool looks fatty, take this sign seriously.

4. The tumor can block the bile duct. This may cause jaundice, which results in pale colored stool, yellow skin and whites of the eyes, dark urine and extensive itching.

5. If the cancer is left unchecked, it will begin affecting many other organs. Should this occur, your overall health will begin to diminish. You will feel very tired. You may become depressed and lose large amounts of weight for no reason.

6. The pancreatic tumor also affects the production of insulin, which may lead to diabetes.

If any of these symptoms are noticed, further testing should be done. There are several tests that can be done to confirm a pancreatic cancer diagnosis.

It is important to note that a very small percentage of women have experienced symptoms in the early stages of pancreatic cancer. These women may realize that they are not enjoying certain types of foods or beverages anymore. They may also feel extremely full not long after eating a meal. These early warning signs should be taken seriously.
Source...
Subscribe to our newsletter
Sign up here to get the latest news, updates and special offers delivered directly to your inbox.
You can unsubscribe at any time

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.