Nearly half of adults in Northern Ireland can't name a single symptom of blood cancer
WATCH: Full report by UTV's Health Reporter Deborah McAleese:
Nearly half of adults in Northern Ireland are unable to name a single symptom of blood cancer according to new research.
That’s despite it being the third biggest cancer killer in the UK.
Blood Cancer UK commissioned the survey as part of Blood Cancer Awareness Month which started on Thursday (1 September).
The charity says one in 19 people will be diagnosed with blood cancer, which include leukaemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, at some point in their lives, and they kill more people every year in the UK than either breast or prostate cancer.
The main symptoms associated with the disease are fatigue, bruising, swollen lymph nodes and night sweats.
Kate Keightley, head of support services at Blood Cancer UK, said: “Blood cancer is the fifth most common type of cancer in the UK so it’s extremely concerning to continue to see such low public awareness of the signs.
“Sadly, symptoms such as night sweats and unexplained tiredness, weight loss and bruising can sometimes be dismissed or downplayed, with devastating results.
“We fear many people might also be confusing breathlessness, a fever and tiredness with Covid-19 and cases are being left undiagnosed.
“At the moment, we know that too many people are being diagnosed late, which often reduces the chance of survival, so it is so vital people get symptoms checked out as soon as possible.
“If you have symptoms that cannot be explained and are persistent, you should urgently make an appointment with your GP. While it is unlikely to be anything serious, it’s so important to get checked out.”
38-year-old Irene Grey who lives in Co Antrim with her husband was diagnosed with JAK2 positive Essential Thrombocythemia (JAK2 ET) in February 2019.
“I spent years asking myself what’s wrong with me, why can I not do better? I couldn’t understand why I felt so tired all the time, would constantly ask myself: ‘Why do I feel this tired, why am I sweating so much at night, why am I getting these headaches?’,” she said.
“At the time I put it down to the stress of undergoing fertility treatment, being busy at work. The thought that I might have blood cancer never occurred to me.
“From as early as 2014 I went back and forth to my GP. At one stage they thought it might be coeliac disease, and blood tests showed that my platelet count was outside of the normal range but as it kept going up and down no one pushed it any further.
“It wasn’t until I lost a lot of weight in a very short space of time that I went to the GP again and a doctor I hadn’t seen before wondered why I hadn’t been seen by haematology. From there it was a very short space of time to being diagnosed with JAK2 positive Essential Thrombocythemia.
“My surgeon described it as my bone marrow being like a light switch always in the on position which means I’m making platelets constantly. This means I’m at much higher risk of blood clots and of developing other blood cancers such as leukaemia.
“My cancer isn’t like other cancers in that it can be taken away and you can be cured and a lifetime diagnosis like this in your 30s is obviously a shock. But I’m in a routine now where I have blood tests every six to eight weeks and am on anti-platelet medication. I’ve had a conversation with my team about chemotherapy drugs should my condition advance but I’m keen to hold off on that for as long as possible.
“‘I’m still working and determined to carry on living life as normally as possible. Blood Cancer UK have been such a great support to me especially with that really practical help and providing information, I want to share my story so I can tell people, yes, a blood cancer diagnosis is scary but you have to, and must, find a way to keep on living.”
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