April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, a month dedicated to a campaign that signifies the importance of knowing your own body and getting help when you notice any difference. The campaign is called "Never sit on Symptoms", and is motioned by 3 key points. "Act Early, Don't Ignore Changes, Never too young" three key facts to remember when thinking about anything health related but especially something as damaging as Bowel Cancer.
Knowing the 5 Symptoms of Bowel Cancer can prevent death | Source: Healthwatch Lewisham
Act Early.
Symptoms can come and go, but that doesn't mean you are safe or free from bowel cancer, you should consult a doctor as soon as you start to notice anything different not just when they start to worse. The best way to achieve early diagnosis and the help that can save lives is to seek help when you first notice changes not when it's too late.
Don't Ignore Changes.
Bowel cancer has a few symptoms that it can be identified with, these include but not limited to:
- Bleeding from the bottom/Blood in toilet
- Persistent changes in bowel habits, including frequency.
- Severe abdominal pain
- Abdominal lumps
- Unexplained weight loss/fatigue
Should you see any of these even in the early stages it is better to be safe than sorry. Ways to reduce risk is to ensure healthy lifestyle choices, including a healthy diet, exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy weight.
Knowing the symptoms of Bowel Cancer can save your life | Source: Knowsley News
Never too young
There is a common misconception that bowel cancer is just an "older persons disease" this is wrong, while your risk increases as you get older, being young does not make you immune from bowel cancer. Any age can be diagnosed with bowel cancer.
Most bowel cancers can start from benign polyps in the bowel, which if detected early can minimise the risk of bowel cancer forming. If you or someone you know is experiencing symptoms, encourage them to get checked. Being cautious is not being weak and we as a community can remove that stigma together.
1
0
0
0
0
| Dresten 1 day ago Great article. There was someone I knew who died of bladder cancer back in 2020. Was a bad time as we couldn't have a traditional funeral/burial for him. Cancer is a ruthless disease and I really do hope a cure is around quickly, and hope it's affective to help stop the spread of it. |
| Leah 2 days ago Amazing Article, Ari, it is amazing to read about the different types of awareness's and the Especially learning more about the more common ones,. well done, i would totally read any of your articles in a heartbeat, Ari, 10000000 cookies to you and your beautiful writing |