Many types of cancer progress insidiously without symptoms, affecting the whole life. Some symptoms can be confused with other diseases and ignored. However, as time passes, cancer complaints can cause this disease to cause unbearable pain. Studies on cancer have shown that most patients diagnosed in advanced stages report the same debilitating symptom.
EVERYONE WITH ADVANCED CANCER HAS THIS SYMPTOM
The American Cancer Society explains about the most common symptom of cancer: “Fatigue is the feeling of being tired and unable to do things at your usual pace. This fatigue can affect you physically, mentally, and emotionally.” Cancer patients suffering from this symptom often describe an ongoing feeling of extreme tiredness that improves with rest. “Almost everyone with advanced cancer has this symptom,” the healthcare provider adds.
TREATMENT CAN BE APPLIED TO SHALL THE TUMOR
Once advanced cancer is diagnosed, it is unlikely to be effectively treated or controlled with treatment. This is because the tumor has invaded nearby tissue, lymph nodes, and other distant parts of the body. Treatment to shrink the tumor can still be administered, but sometimes doctors decide that the risks of treatment outweigh the benefits. It should be noted that people with advanced cancer are more likely to experience fatigue than patients in the early stages of the disease.
FAILURE CAUSES DISORDERING HORMONE LEVELS
The main cause of fatigue in cancer patients is the disruption in the body’s hormone levels, which is often seen in diseases such as breast and prostate cancer. When there are more cancer cells in the body, fatigue can cause decreased eating and activity. Cancer Research UK adds: “Some cancers produce substances called cytokines. Cytokines are a group of proteins that play an important role in boosting the immune system in the body. These can cause fatigue.”
It is characterized as an intolerable weakness.
The report, published in a medical journal, described the type of fatigue in patients with terminal cancer as ‘an unbearable weakness’. The report notes that “weakness is more often the unbearable symptom,” seen in 57 percent of patients receiving palliative care. The Cleveland Clinic describes cancer fatigue as “paralyzing” because it can come on suddenly. “Most of the time you feel tired physically, emotionally and mentally.”
THEY EXPERIENCE UNBEATABLE PAINS
According to the published report, patients often report “unbearable pain” along with weakness. Pain in terminally ill patients is often characterized as chronic, as it tends to last longer than pain caused by other problems. In cancer patients, pain often leads to several other complications such as:
- feeling angry
- sleeping bad
- decreased appetite
- decreased concentration