BRIGG WILL BE INVOLVED DURING 'PURPLE' NOVEMBER

During the latest Brigg Town Council meeting it was suggested that charity fundraiser Andrew Markham  is involved in a request for North Lincolnshire Council to illuminate part of the Angel building in purple to mark Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.
Here's why Andrew, pictured above (right) with fellow campaigner Zoe Hall and Scunthorpe MP Nic Dakin, in Brigg town centre, is making that request...


FROM KIRSTY WESTFIELD, NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE COUNCIL

Next month (November) is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and North Lincolnshire Council wants to raise awareness of the symptoms and encourage people to talk about cancer.
Pancreatic cancer affects men and women. Each year on average 15 men and 13 women are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in North Lincolnshire.
Pancreatic cancer is more common amongst the older ages; almost half the cases are diagnosed in people aged over 75. It is uncommon in people under 40 years old.
There are usually no symptoms in the early stages of pancreatic cancer making it hard to diagnose.
An estimated 37 per cent of pancreatic cancers in the UK are linked to lifestyle factors including smoking (29 per cent) and being overweight or obese (12 per cent).
North Lincolnshire has higher than average rates of excess weight amongst adults and similar rates of adult smoking to England.
Pancreatic cancer is the fifth largest cause of cancer death in North Lincolnshire and in the UK.
In North Lincolnshire around 15 men and 14 women die each year from pancreatic cancer.
Around a fifth of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will survive for one year or more, dropping to three per cent surviving five years and only one per cent surviving 10 years or more.
The three most common symptoms are:

• Pain in the stomach or back
• Jaundice
• Unexpected weight loss
• New onset diabetes not associated with weight gain
• Pancreatic cancer is currently very difficult to diagnose. Upon diagnosis, most sufferers find they have untreatable terminal cancer with an average life expectancy of between three to six months. Surgery is currently the only cure for pancreatic cancer, but only 10 per cent are diagnosed in time for this to be an option.

Coun Carl Sherwood, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, said: “Pancreatic cancer is the fifth biggest cancer killer. We want to raise awareness of this type of cancer and the common symptoms. Knowing the symptoms can help with early diagnosis and give you a better chance of surviving. Don’t ignore the symptoms, visit your GP straightaway.
“This Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month people are being asked to ‘Turn it Purple’, whether that is by wearing purple clothing or lighting up a building purple. It will get people talking about pancreatic cancer and hopefully fight against the odds.”

Maggie Watts’ story

Maggie Watts from Scunthorpe lost her husband to pancreatic cancer in 2009. Her husband’s mum also died of pancreatic cancer in 1969 when she was just 27 years old. Maggie said: “What shocked me the most when my husband was diagnosed was that absolutely nothing had improved in survival rates since his mum died in 1969 even though 40 years has passed since she died. After my husband died I decided to see if I could create a bit of change and started a Government e-petition. After a year of hard work we managed to get 100,000 signatures needed for a debate.”
Maggie had the debate in Parliament and change has resulted from that. Maggie explains: “I intend to focus my attention now on pushing for public awareness of the disease as early diagnosis is the only way to survive and sadly most people are diagnosed at a very late stage and prognosis is grim, often only weeks left to live.”
Maggie’s new campaign #HopeIsContagious is being launched in November to coincide with Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and is aimed at getting much needed public awareness of the disease.

Turn it Purple 2016

By turning the UK purple in November 2016, Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, it will help generate discussion and awareness of pancreatic cancer, which we know can directly impact awareness of symptoms and boost GP visits.