Should I worry that my abdominal pain may be pancreatic cancer?
One of the side effects of reading about a certain condition is that you might think you have it if you developed a symptom of it. The rarity of a condition is important in these cases, and we have to understand that no matter how common cancer is, it remains an improbable diagnosis from a single symptom. Doctors go through many diagnoses before reaching a final one, and many investigations may need to be done in doubtful cases. The purpose of this article is not to alert you unnecessarily but to enlighten you regarding a certain condition. For the sake of knowledge, all of these diseases can present as abdominal pain similar to that of pancreatic cancer:
- Acute pancreatitis: An inflammation of the pancreas.
- Chronic pancreatitis: A condition resulting from chronic alcoholism.
- Abdominal aortic aneurysm: A distension of the main artery passing through the abdomen.
- Gall bladder conditions
- Liver inflammation and cancer
- Intestinal conditions as ischemia: Intestinal ischemia is the acute or chronic diminution of blood supply to a segment of the intestines.
That is why you should visit your physician whenever an alarming symptom develops and not worry excessively about any condition until it is diagnosed.