Doctor Warns: Pancreatic Cancer Shows Few Early Signs
Pancreatic cancer often goes undetected until advanced stages because early signs are virtually nonexistent, warns a Thai hospital official who urges smokers, obese individuals, and heavy drinkers to take preventive action now.
Dr. Jetsada Bunyavongvirooj, deputy director of primary care at Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital, has issued a warning about pancreatic cancer, emphasizing it is a disease that catches people off guard because early stages produce virtually no symptoms—no pain, no lumps, and patients often appear perfectly healthy and can eat and work normally. Only when yellowing skin, weight loss, and severe abdominal pain appear has the disease often progressed significantly. In Thailand, thousands of people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer annually, and death rates closely match new cases, not because people neglect their health but because the disease is highly deceptive.
Dr. Jetsada identifies three major risk groups who should act now rather than wait for symptoms: smokers should stop adding to their risk, as tobacco toxins enter the bloodstream and damage the pancreas along with other organs—even light smoking counts; people with belly fat, weight gain, and sedentary lifestyles should not dismiss this as merely cosmetic, as obesity and type 2 diabetes significantly increase pancreatic cancer risk; and people who have suffered alcohol-induced pancreatic inflammation should stop drinking rather than resume old habits, because repeated inflammation causes lasting damage that accumulates into long-term cancer risk. He advises starting with simple changes: reducing sugar and processed foods, adding vegetables and protein, walking after meals, and building muscle two to three times weekly—benefits accrue even before major weight loss occurs.
