Before discussing pancreatic cancer, you need to know what organ is the pancreas. The pancreas is an organ shaped like a sponge tube / sponge with kirakira six inches long located behind the stomach. The pancreas produces enzymes and hormones, including insulin.
Pancreatic enzymes help digest food in the small intestine, whereas insulin to control blood sugar levels. Both enzymes and hormones necessary to maintain the body in order to work properly. The most frightening disorders that occur in this organ is a cancer of the pancreas.
Pancreatic cancer occurs when malignant cells (malignant) grow, develop, and spread in pancreatic tissue. Pancreatic cancer is known as the silent disease because in the early stages of this disease have almost no symptoms. However, if cancer cells have flourished and spread, the pain usually will occur in the upper abdomen and sometimes spreads to the back. Other symptoms include sudden weight loss, depression, and decreased appetite.
Although the exact causes of pancreatic cancer is unknown, but smoking is a major risk factor. Smokers have 2-3 times the risk of higher pancreatic cancer than nonsmokers. Age also affects the existence of this disease, pancreatic cancer usually tend to occur at the age above 45 years.
Other risk factors include diabetes, pancreatitis, and cirrhosis of the liver. There was also missed a family history of the disease also has a role. Pancreatic cancer can be very fierce indeed. Many sufferers die within a year after diagnosis. Only a few, less than 4 percent that will survive five years after diagnosis.
No wonder when the National Cancer Institute says pancreatic cancer is rarely curable. If the cancer is still in the pancreas (localized), the level of recovery would be greater. Even so, this is usually a good hope in all cases only slightly, less than 20 percent.
For patients with cancer who are still measuring less than 2 cm, with no spread to lymph nodes, surgical removal of cancer patients could save at least five years. This possibility could reach 18-24 percent.
Cancer treatment, depending on a number of factors, such as cancer type, size and spread of cancer is also the overall condition of the patient and his age. Therefore, each patient can not be treated the same. Although somewhat difficult to cure, doctors still will try as hard as possible to care for patients in order to increase the quality of life, such as by surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy.
Usually treatment for pancreatic cancer is very unusual that the body affects the cancer cells die. Therefore, the doctor will give another drug as a combination. Treatment will give the effect of nausea, flushed skin, hair loss, loss of appetite, weakness, and decreased weight.
Intake of nutritious food is needed at the time of healing. Treatment that serves to replace the insulin the pancreas is also necessary because as the plant is disturbed insulin function. Then, how to prevent this deadly cancer? Of course the only way is to avoid factors that cause and factors of this disease.
