AS the old proverb goes ‘the eyes are a window to the soul’.
But they are also a window to our health – and shouldn’t be ignored.
For one women, her eyes revealed to doctors that she had a deadly stomach cancer, which killer her.
Doctors said the 52-year-old unnamed woman experienced a stomach ache for three weeks and saw the whites of her eyes turn yellow before she sought medical help.
She was also being sick, didn’t have an appetite and felt more tired than usual, the medics, who work in the US and India, wrote in the Cureus Journal of Medical Science.
Tests revealed the woman had a fatal stomach cancer called a gastric adenocarcinoma.
Stomach cancer treatment is most likely to be successful if the cancer is only in the stomach, according to the NHS.
But, in this case, the woman’s cancer had grown so much it had spread to her bowel rendering it incurable.
The large tumour was compressing the tube that carries digestive juices between the stomach and the small intestine.
It was this intestinal blockage that was causing the woman’s eyes to turn yellow – a condition known as jaundice.
This happens when there is a build-up of a yellowish substance, called bilirubin.
It often occurs when people have have conditions such as gallstones or liver damage.
The doctors wrote in the report that yellow eyes is a “rare” first symptom of stomach cancer.
The woman received surgery to help ease her symptoms, but not to cure the cancer.
She was later discharged, but declined further treatment with chemotherapy and she died two months later, according to the report.
What are the 8 common symptoms of stomach cancer?
Stomach cancer symptoms can depend on where cancerous cells have grown and replicated in the stomach.
According to The Mayo Clinic, common symptoms of stomach cancer may include:
- Heartburn
- Feeling full after small portions of food
- Stomach pain
- Nausea
- Indigestion
- Unintentional weight loss
- Feeling bloated after eating
- Trouble swallowing
If you’re worried that any of these symptoms may apply to you, it’s probably a good idea to get them checked out.
