Spotting Signs To Beat Bowel Cancer

From pressreader.com/uk

Young people have been warned not to ignore four key symp­toms of bowel can­cer, after stat­ist­ics showed they are more likely than ever to die of the con­di­tion.

Between the early 1990s and 2018, the num­ber of adults in Bri­tain aged 25 to 49 being dia­gnosed with bowel can­cer increased by 22%.

Routine screen­ing for the dis­ease starts at 50 but experts say warn­ing signs can appear earlier and must be checked imme­di­ately. Bowel can­cer is still dia­gnosed more fre­quently in older adults and approx­im­ately one-in-17 men and one-in-20 women will develop the dis­ease dur­ing their life­time. Even so, dia­gnoses among younger people have con­tin­ued to rise.

Key warn­ing signs to look out for include:

Per­sist­ent changes in bowel habits: Con­stip­a­tion, diarrhoea, unusu­ally nar­row stools, or a last­ing change in nor­mal bowel habits may indic­ate an under­ly­ing prob­lem. Some may also feel as though the bowel has not emp­tied com­pletely. These symp­toms may develop when a tumour causes inflam­ma­tion or par­tially blocks the bowel.

Recur­ring blood in the stool: Blood in the stool is a key bowel can­cer warn­ing sign, par­tic­u­larly when it appears more than once.

Changes in stool col­our or appear­ance: This may provide addi­tional clues. Bright red stool, dark or tarry stool, or mucus in the stool can be asso­ci­ated with bleed­ing in the gastrointest­inal tract, colon, or rectum. These changes do not always mean can­cer is present, but they should be eval­u­ated if they con­tinue or recur.

Unex­plained changes in over­all health: Bowel can­cer and other gastrointest­inal con­di­tions can cause symp­toms that affect the entire body. Unex­plained weight loss, per­sist­ent tired­ness, weak­ness, reduced appet­ite, nausea, or vomit­ing may indic­ate an under­ly­ing med­ical prob­lem and war­rant a trip to the GP.

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-express/20260810/282102053490787