Wearing purple for a purpose

You'll see more people sporting purple today. They're wearing “purple for a purpose.” November 13th, 2014 is World Pancreatic Cancer Day. It's a global effort to raise awareness about the disease.

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. More than 46,000 Americans will be diagnosed with the disease this year, according to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. More than 39,500 will die from the disease.

Risk factors include family history of the disease, age, chronic or hereditary pancreatitis, smoking, obesity and diabetes. 

Pancreatic cancer may cause only vague symptoms that could indicate many different conditions within the abdomen or gastrointestinal tract. Those symptoms include pain, weight loss, jaundice, loss of appetite, nausea, changes in stool and diabetes.

Throughout the month of November, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is encouraging everyone to “wage hope” in the fight against the disease.

The CBS 58 Morning News team helped spread awareness by wearing purple this morning. They also encouraged viewers to do the same. Check out more pictures on the CBS 58 Facebook page. We'd love to see your pictures as well. Post to our Facebook page or tweet us!