\u201cI\u2019m here to walk alongside people and their families at one of the most frightening times of their lives\u201d: NI\u2019s first pancreatic support nurse \u2013 The Irish News<\/a><\/p>\nPersistent cough<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019ve got a persistent cough that hasn\u2019t gone away in three weeks, or if the cough has changed, or if it\u2019s getting worse, it\u2019s important to speak to your doctor about that,\u201d says Winter.<\/p>\n
Unexplained pain<\/b><\/p>\n
As we get older, it\u2019s more common to experience aches and pains, but any unexplained or persistent pain anywhere in the body could be a sign of something more serious, highlights the health information manager.<\/p>\n
Skin changes<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019ve noticed any changes to an area of skin \u2013 for example, you have an area of skin that\u2019s perhaps isn\u2019t not healing \u2013 get that checked out by a doctor,\u201d advises Winter. \u201cA detailed list of specific symptoms of melanoma skin cancer can be found on Cancer Research UK\u2019s website.\u201d<\/p>\n
Who should you go to first?<\/b><\/p>\n
Your GP should always be your first port of call about any health concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe often hear from people that it\u2019s difficult to get an appointment with their GP, but it\u2019s important to keep persisting,\u201d says Winter. \u201cThere\u2019s lots of different ways that you can contact your GP now, including over the phone, online, or by popping into your GP surgery.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the public\u2019s job to know what\u2019s wrong with them, that\u2019s what the doctor is there for, so you won\u2019t be wasting their time by bringing these concerns to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why is it important to flag these symptoms early?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important to flag any symptoms early because cancer that\u2019s diagnosed at an early stage is more likely to be treated successfully,\u201d says Winter. \u201cWhen a cancer is smaller and hasn\u2019t spread, there\u2019s more treatment options and it\u2019s more likely to be treated successfully.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can listen to your body and talk to your doctor about any change, that can make all the difference in terms of outcomes. In most cases, it\u2019s not going to be cancer, but if it is, spotting it early makes all the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Findings from a new survey suggest that many people delay having potential cancer symptoms examined because they struggle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[24410,22352,7726,113143,59081,113144,110,12773,27123,97463,2593,94504,57247,24412,685,18,44070,113145,113146,6059,113147,6152,27127,135,3293,113148,19,99908,17,113149,30015,113150,693,96,111,113151,149,26319,1601,51693,5784,4111,6330,113152,2649,24419,9097,1817,98,67378,94,9223,1525,16404],"class_list":{"0":"post-206086","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-ache","9":"tag-awareness","10":"tag-body","11":"tag-bosom","12":"tag-breast","13":"tag-bust","14":"tag-cancer","15":"tag-care","16":"tag-check","17":"tag-chest","18":"tag-concept","19":"tag-danger","20":"tag-detection","21":"tag-discomfort","22":"tag-disease","23":"tag-eire","24":"tag-exam","25":"tag-examination","26":"tag-examine","27":"tag-female","28":"tag-feminine","29":"tag-girl","30":"tag-hand","31":"tag-health","32":"tag-human","33":"tag-hurt","34":"tag-ie","35":"tag-ill","36":"tag-ireland","37":"tag-lump","38":"tag-massage","39":"tag-mastopathy","40":"tag-medical","41":"tag-medicine","42":"tag-oncology","43":"tag-pa-feature-health-cancersigns","44":"tag-pain","45":"tag-palpation","46":"tag-person","47":"tag-press","48":"tag-pressure","49":"tag-prevention","50":"tag-problem","51":"tag-pulpation","52":"tag-self","53":"tag-sore","54":"tag-surgery","55":"tag-test","56":"tag-tissue","57":"tag-touch","58":"tag-treatment","59":"tag-woman","60":"tag-women","61":"tag-young"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Dawn](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/CSVOC3RX4JJHJN6XY7HYTCKCVI.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Long-term](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2ARLIKLMZJL4RCE2ZCQRRFEEMI.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/NABEBICSWNGXNAU56UIVXXKBHE.jpg\")
If you\u2019ve noticed any unusual lump or swelling anywhere on the body, that is something that you should get checked out (PA) <\/p>\n![\"Thousands](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/RDWPMVEHYFOCJAIJ2GTIXBN5TQ.jpg\")
Speak to your doctor if you are losing weight without trying (PA) <\/p>\n