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Pancreatic cancer

Jamie Dornan has opened up about losing his mum Lorna to pancreatic cancer. The actor was a mere 16-years-old when his mum passed away.

He got honest about the impact it had on him in an interview with Press Association.

The Fall star was only 14-years-old when his mum was diagnosed with cancer. “I look back on that time and see it in a very blurry way. I was very young. Every kid at that age is naive. I felt like I was particularly young and naive at that time.”

 

His mum’s untimely death caused Jamie to grow up very quickly.

The actor admitted that the pain of losing a parent never leaves you. “It has an ever evolving effect on me, that loss, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”

The 36-year-old continued: “I feel like every single day it has an effect on me in ways which I am aware of and some ways I think I am not aware of.”

Jamie isn’t alone in his grief. He is aware of the millions of families who lose loved ones to cancer across the globe.

“Lots of people have lost people that are very dear to them at a young age. That’s the sad thing about this illness particularly, it seems to get people young, who often have very young families,” he said.

Jamie gushed about his mum and said she would have been thrilled with his success. The actor believes she would have loved the glamour of his career.

He added: “Hopefully there is some world where she has an awareness of it.”

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Taking selfies might act as an ego boost for many people, but recent developments in the field of health and technology suggest that the act could, in fact, save your life.

Researchers at the University of Washington have created an app known as BiliScreen which they say help to identify symptoms of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer tends to go undetected in the vast majority of cases meaning its survival rate is significantly lower than the medical profession and wider public would like.

However, there exists a particular indicator which doctors want to highlight through the use of BiliScreen, and that indicator is yellow discolouration in the whites of the eyes.

The BiliScreen is a non-invasive alternative to drawing blood, and ultimately measures the bilirubin levels in the blood stream without the need for a GP or hospital appointment.

In fact, an early clinical study of 70 people found that the app correctly identified "cases for concern" nearly 90 percent of the time.

So, how exactly does the BiliScreen work?

Well, the user will need to take a portrait shot of their face, and the app will then provide the user with a measure of their bilirubin levels, thereby allowing the individual to make an informed decision if results provided by the app are deemed a concern.

Lead author of the study, Alex Mariakakis, explained the user-friendly nature of the app, saying: "The hope is that if people can do this simple test once a month-  in the privacy of their own homes – some might catch the disease early enough to undergo treatment that could save their lives."

Take a look at this.

 

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