Eminem’s mother, Debbie Nelson, died this week after being diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. A doctor has now shared symptoms of the condition that are often ‘missed’
Debbie Nelson, mother of rap legend Eminem, died this week aged 69 after a battle with advanced lung cancer.
She passed away in St. Joseph, Missouri, US, on December 2 after her advanced lung cancer diagnosis was made public back in September.
This will no doubt spark a surge in public interest in understanding the symptoms of lung cancer, with NHS GP Dr Nighat Arif taking to her TikTok account to educate her followers.
READ MORE: Scots woman diagnosed with cancer by AI technology after persistent cough
With an impressive following of 247,000, Dr Arif (@drnighatarif) is renowned for sharing health advice online and regularly provides medical insights on ITV‘s This Morning too. In one segment for This Morning, she highlighted ‘less common’ symptoms of lung cancer.
She shared a clip of this segment on her TikTok account, where she was seen speaking to Rochelle Humes and Phillip Schofield, who were presenting at the time. She explained: “They [the symptoms] can overlap really, it’s mostly the fatigue, this unintentional weight loss, you can also sometimes get coughing up blood.”
Besides a persistent cough, Dr Arif noted that repeated chest infections could be a sign of lung cancer, often mistakenly dismissed. She advised: “So sometimes, we can miss it by saying, ‘Oh it’s pneumonia or a chest infection’ and get repeated antibiotics from the doctor, when actually underlying it, we should be sending you for a chest X-ray to have a look if there are lumps.”
The doctor stressed the need for vigilance when it comes to persistent chest infections, advising: “So if you have a repeated chest infection that’s not getting better, always have that flagged up in your mind and say to the doctor, or the doctor should flag that up and say, ‘Well maybe we should getting a chest X-ray and getting this checked out, or a CT scan.”
Phillip then asked: “What sort of time-scale are we looking at… if you have one of those symptoms. How quickly will you be treated?” Dr Arif suggested first taking a covid test to rule it out, then contacting your GP “particularly if it’s a cough for three weeks, unintentional weight loss, shortness of breath, reassuring chest infections and you also get aches and pains or shoulder tip pain.”
Dr Arif further commented: “We need to re-double are efforts to pick up lung cancers early, because unfortunately we are picking them up late.”
The NHS website backs up Dr Arif’s claims and also lists additional, less common symptoms of lung cancer, including changes in finger appearance, difficulty swallowing or pain during swallowing, wheezing, a hoarse voice, and swelling of the face or neck.
Despite financially supporting his mother, rapper Eminem – whose real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers– has reportedly been estranged from her and other family members in Missouri for several years, with their strained relationship often reflected in his lyrics.
