Had friends in from out of town, went to visit other friends too, one ladies' husband was a super nice guy always making
sure everyone at the party had whatever they wanted….died last December 21, solstice day.
Big surprise to us and super quick, he had pancreas
cancer (same thing took Steve Jobs down) which is often not
diagnosed until it is too late, and it readily spreads to other organs, so
sometimes its called the silent cancer. It is predicted to be the 2nd most
deadly cancer by 2030.
71% to 80% die In the
first year
93% die within 5 years
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- For those over 50, it is probably one of the most likely ways of having a quick disease driven death
- About 1.5% of population will get this, but if you are a smoker, drinker, or fat that might go up to 9%
- If you get it, and don’t catch is very early, it will likely kill you fast
- There is no blood test catch it early, some blood tests might be a “clue”, but they will not do this as part of standard blood work.
- MRI is effective at catching it early / screening, but health care in USA does not screen for this
Screening would be effective.
Using mathematical models to study the timing of pancreatic cancer progression, the scientists conservatively estimated an average of 11.7 years before the first cancer cell develops within a high-grade pancreatic lesion, then an average of 6.8 years as the cancer grows and at least one cell has the potential to spread .https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/surprise_finding_pancreatic_cancers_progress_to_lethal_stage_slowly
Green tea (you can buy it in a pill) is shown to reduce pancreatic
cancer risk.
But there are “signs” but these signs come too late almost always.
I also have friends that have lost loved ones in Hawaii, from this.
Signs:
50% of all victims have these 2 signs, however, once you
have these symptoms, it may be later stage and too late.
- Jaundice
- Abdominal Pain
Other signs
- Rapid Weight Loss
- Bloating – Gas develops rapidly after a meal
- Appetite Loss (although Pancreas Cancer is a rare cause of this, many other causes)
- Discolored Stool
- Abdominal Pain (sheesh, wasn’t this item 2 also?
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Causes – Many Pancreas cancers have no identifiable
cause
- Smoking – doubles your risk
- Overweight
- Chemicals, pesticides, solvents, dyes, organic hydrocarbons
- Alcohol consumption (affects men but not women) up to 6 times higher
- Poor oral hygiene. Amazingly heart disease is closely linked to poor oral hygiene, flossing AND use of mouthwash daily, pretty much eliminates this risk, so is a no-brainer.
There is basically no commonly available way for early
detection, and the new strategies of the “medical system” are to not screen for
pancreas cancer AT ALL.
So like all other modern medicine, your health is controlled
by for profit corporations, who insist on rationing care and it’s getting
worse. Knowing what to say and how to
say it may get you better treatment.
Doctors have to justify every test to insurance companies, so they
need a reason to request a test. Family history / genetics is one of the
best ways.
There is a blood test that looks for “CA 19-9” but it doesn’t
always get produced even if you have pancreatic cancer, and sometimes there is
a false positive, and sometimes, if detected, it’s already too late. So they use this as an excuse to not test
at all, see how that works?
Your best bet for getting tested is to explain any family
history of pancreas cancer, but history of other types of cancers of course it
needs to be direct blood relatives.
They can test for gene changes which can show “increased
pancreatic cancer risk”
Endoscopic
ultrasound is a newer test for detecting early p/cancer. They won’t give you this unless the genetic
test shows increased risk, or you have “a strong family history”
CT scans can be used, but these involve thousands of X-ray
in just seconds, so the radiation dose is unacceptable high. Like 20 years of radiation in a few
seconds. CT should be outlawed, as MRI
is superior is all aspects, except some specific bone imaging. But they still have these CT machines and
the people who know how to use them, so they still use them.
A special kind of MRI called an MRCP can give high-quality
pictures of the pancreas, the pancreas duct, and the bile ducts. However,
some patients who are claustrophobic may decide against having an MRI
performed.
Some doctors will prefer an Endoscopic Ultrasound over even
the MRCP/MRI because they can also get a biopsy at the same time, a biopsy is a
tissue sample they can get with a very fine needle. The “Endoscopic” means they stick a tube
down your throat with the ultrasound and a tissue gathering needle. They also feel that they can get a better
view of the pancreas than with the MCRP/MRI, but that seems a little sketchy to
me. I think they like the “biopsy” approach
because then they have “proof”. But
the problem with taking byopsies is that if you are poking into cancer stuff,
you can also spread the cancer right then and there.
from the above, it is callous how they say that if your
chance of getting this horrible cancer goes up 650% it is “not significant”
Of the 40 study participants, 38 (95.0%) had a family member
with pancreatic cancer, four (10.0%) had a p16 gene mutation, three (5.0%) had
a BRCA2 mutation, and one (2.5%) had
a BRCA1 mutation. The BRCA mutations are among the most
common genetic mutations associated with familial pancreatic cancer.
On the above article link, I signed up for a “Medscape”
account as a “medical educator”
They have a bunch of interesting stuff, like up to 30% fat
is “good for you”, see here, but you might need an account. This guy headed a study on 135,000 people,
and showed it to his mom who said “duh that what my grandma and her grandma
knew all the time.”
They also prove that eating animals, makes you less likely
to be depressed. Another duh!
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/886916
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