With almost 500,000 people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer every year worldwide, along with a very low survival rate, World Pancreatic Cancer Day promotes awareness, education and information regarding this serious disease.
History of World Pancreatic Cancer Day
This event was founded in 2015 as an initiative of the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition.
Made up of more than sixty different organizations and agencies, this global partnership works together to improve awareness about pancreatic cancer all over the world by fostering communication, supporting research, and promoting up-to-date messaging to the public.
World Pancreatic Cancer Day works to bring global attention to this disease and the need for more research, increased funding, and greater support for those who are fighting this disease as well as prevention for the future.
With the theme, “a day of action, a world of difference”, the idea behind this event is to encourage medical professionals, researchers, healthcare organizations, and more into action toward a new outlook for pancreatic cancer patients.
Situated on the calendar just a week before Thanksgiving Day in the US this is a great time for those survivors of pancreatic cancer to show gratitude, while those who have lost loved ones to this disease can consider ways that they were thankful for that person’s life and advocate for medical advances.
How to Observe World Pancreatic Cancer Day
Wondering about some ideas for getting involved? Take a look at some of these ways to observe World Pancreatic Cancer Day:
Learn Important Facts About Pancreatic Cancer
Consider learning and sharing some of these important facts as a launching point for a conversation with friends, coworkers, or others about World Pancreatic Cancer Day:
Pancreatic cancer has the highest mortality rate of all the major cancers
Earlier diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is the best chance for survival
Pancreatic cancer has subtle symptoms that make it difficult to diagnose
Only about 10% of pancreatic cancers are hereditary, so family history is not necessarily an indicator
Wear Purple for Pancreatic Cancer
The support color for this disease is purple, so get on board by wearing a purple support ribbon, donning a purple shirt, flying a purple flag, changing social media profile pictures to reflect purple ribbons, or engaging with the color purple in some other way.
When asked about it, be sure to share that the purpose behind the purple is World Pancreatic Cancer Day!
Understand Early Signs of Pancreatic Cancer
As always, anyone with health concerns of any kind should speak with their doctor or other health care professional.
Knowing what to look for is vital in diagnosing any disease, including pancreatic cancer. Many of the symptoms are hard to trace, such as recent onset diabetes or loss of appetite and weight loss. Other symptoms may include:
- Pain in the abdomen or back
- Yellowing of the skin or eyes (jaundice) with or without itching
- Nausea
- Changes in the stool
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