Cholangiocarcinoma Awareness Month – Bile Duct Cancer Awareness
This month as you can see is Cholangiocarcinoma Awareness Month. Or translated from medicalese it is Bile Duct Cancer Awareness Month.
Bile duct cancer is considered a rare form of cancer with only 1,000 people being diagnosed in the UK each year. It has been suggested that generally only 10-20 per million will develop the condition each year.
As our contribution to raising awareness of Cholangiocarcinoma we thought we would share some of the signs and symptoms that a person may have bile duct cancer.
It should be noted that symptoms only show themselves when the cancer is more advance. This is often when the bile duct is blocked.
The main signs and symptoms include
a) Jaundice
b) Itchy skin
c) Weight loss which is unexpected
d) Light colored or greasy poos
e) Belly pain
f) Dark colored urine.
If you have these symptoms it is important you contact your doctor as soon as possible!
Mark Taylor Bryant is 43 and from Manchester. He works as a long distance lorry driver. In this guest post he tells us about a drug free treatment for osteoarthritis he has been using. We though we would share as part of our on going series of blogs on pain management.
He writes “I was first diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my knees, shoulder and wrist joints over ten years ago. However, over recent years I’ve been suffering from severe pain, particularly in my knees. This is something that is exacerbated by my work as a long haul delivery driver, which sees me sitting in the driving position for up to 18 hours a day as I cover between 200,000 to 300,000 miles per year.
I was told by doctors that I was too young for a knee replacement . However, neither of these provided me with any relief. I also had two arthroscopy procedures performed on my knees to try and clear the damaged cartilage. However, these procedures both had minimal impact in terms of pain relief. It felt as though I was just going to have to accept the excruciating pain for the rest of my life and in particular during the winter months when the pain would be heightened.
However, during a routine delivery I mentioned my troubles to an office worker at the delivery address who told me about a company, FLEXISEQ, that manufactures a drug-free treatment for osteoarthritis. I tried out a sample soon after and almost immediately the pain started to subside. After two weeks I felt completely different and I now apply the gel twice a day to the affected joints to ensure that the pain does not return.
I’m currently not suffering from any pain in my joints. It’s not so much that FLEXISEQ helps the pain go away, it actually stops the pain from occurring – it’s incredibly effective and has had a measurable impact on the day to day quality of my life.
”
We were told In a clinical trial on 1395 adults with osteoarthritis of the knee, use of FLEXISEQ resulted in clinically relevant reductions in joint pain and stiffness and improvement in physical function that were equivalent to the effects of an anti-inflammatory . There have been no serious side effects reported relating to the use of Flexiseq. In clinical trials FLEXISEQ caused minor skin irritations, mainly erythema, dry skin and rash – usually mild to moderate intensity, transient and fading away by itself. A treatment interruption was not necessary. There are no known interruptions with other medicines.
APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Said TS Eliot at the opening of the Waste Land.
But is that true?
For many people with painful conditions the height of summer or the depths of winter are the worst times of the year for pain.
In fact there does seen to be a correlation between climate, temperature and pain levels. In fact one of the most popular post on the blog has been how to cool down in the summer.
But temperature change is not the only part of the equation.
One of the first things I was told, as a child , by my grandmother was that her rheumatoid arthritis enabled her to know when it was going to rain. Which would suggest humidity can also play a part.
The aim of this blog is to explore the whole area in a bit more detail.
Firstly it would be great if you could take the poll below. The question is “Looking back at the last year which season has been the most painful?” Secondly it would be fantastic if you could answer a few questions about pain and climate. These question are only a guide and we would love to hear from you about any part of your story you may think is of interest.
a) What is your main medical condition which causes pain?
b) What is the main change in weather which affects your pain levels?
c) How do you treat seasonally related pain?
d) Have you moved because of your pain levels? If not would you consider it?
e) Do you have any advice for somebody who has just been diagnosed with a painful medical condition such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis or fibromyalgia?
As we all know fibromyalgia is a very painful medical condition. Indeed it is the symptom which gets the most mentions in a lot of the research we have conducted over the years.
In particular members of the fibromyalgia community have localised as well as “all over” pain. Indeed people with fibromyalgia often have severe headaches and women have very painful periods.
But in this blog post and poll I would like to focus the area of fibromyalgia pain which could be referred as “tender points”. Or , put another way, parts of the body where people feel pain when pressure is applied. This is also called Allodynia.
Most often these pressure points will be found:-
back of the head
area between the shoulders
front of the neck
top of the chest
outside of the elbows
top and sides of the hips
insides of the knees
but of course their are others.
The aim of this blog is to allow our readers to share a bit more about their tender points. There are two ways you can help. Firstly it would be great if you could take the poll below.
Secondly we would love it if you could share how you treated the pain and the tenderness in the comments section below.
You might also be interested in some previous research we conducted into treatments for fibromyalgia here.
RobinKayeSkinner
I would love to say I was successful at treating the pain but it is all so temporary that is like a blip on the radar Just so painful some times just cant move and some days bed ridden..
Regular reader of PatientTalk will know that this week sees that annual Bone and Joint Health Awareness Week. Therefore we would like you to know that tomorrow is World Spine Day. In fact the event is held on every October 16th each year.
This year the organisers of World Spine Day have come up with a brilliant idea for raising awareness. With the theme of “Straighten Up and Move” people are being asked to take a photo of their spine and share via social media using #worldspineday and #spineselfie. Photos should be tasteful, creative and help to raise awareness for healthy spine habits.
In the recent Global Burden of Disease Study, low back pain ranked highest in terms
of disability, and sixth in terms of overall effect on lifestyle . In fact up to 80% of people will suffer from back or neck pain during their lives. For half of us it could be once a year or more.
Age and income are the most common risk factors! Back and neck pain is one of the most common reasons for work related sick leave.
For more information visit the World Spine Day website.
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