The early stages of pancreatic cancer can trigger abnormally high blood sugar and significant weight loss. These two factors must be regularly monitored to have a chance of treating the disease and therefore of surviving.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most devastating with a particularly low cure rate. Unfortunately, few people survive it because the diagnosis is often made at an advanced stage. Even today, surgery is the only potentially curative treatment for cancer, but it is only possible if the disease is detected in time.
Aware of this problem, the scientists carried out a study, the conclusions of which were published in the journal PLOS One and relayed by the Daily mail, and found that it could be diagnosed up to three years earlier. Through their research, they found that in the early stages of cancer, patients begin to develop abnormally high blood sugar levels because the damaged organ does not produce enough insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar.
They also noticed that they were noticeably underweight. People with pancreatic cancer had a much lower BMI compared to people of the same age who were not sick.
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These are the main red flags of cancer
Weight loss and increased blood sugar are therefore the main red flags of pancreatic cancer. Regular monitoring of these two factors, via blood tests and weighings at the general practitioner’s office, for example, would be beneficial for an early diagnosis of the disease, the researchers point out. Reading suspicious data would allow them to quickly do a CT scan and undergo life-saving surgery.
As a reminder, smoking is the main environmental risk factor for pancreatic cancer. In addition, a diet rich in fats and meats, and low in fiber, as well as a sedentary lifestyle could favor, to a lesser degree, the occurrence of these tumors, according to the Cancer Research Foundation.
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