Now seems like an apt time to discuss colon cancer and it’s symptoms

Colon cancer predominantly affects those over the age of 50, but can affect people of any age

In the UK, bowel screenings begin at age 60 but bowel cancer can affect anyone of any age which is why it’s important to know your body and check any changes with your doctor. Unfortunately, It is often not discovered until it’s in its later stages.

This is because as a society, even with a doctor, it can be embarrassing to talk about your bowel habits. Hopefully now people can have frank discussions about symptoms which may be troubling them.

Symptoms to look out for- unexplained changes in bowel habits including but not limited to - going more or less frequently, frequent bouts of diarrhoea or constipation, rectal bleeding with or without pain, pain in abdomen (can sometimes feel like indigestion), unexplained...

weight loss and fatigue

Colon cancer often begins as benign polyps in your intestines - an excess growth of tissue. If not removed some polyps may turn cancerous. Pre cancerous polyps can be removed and prevent colon cancer from progressing.

As with most cancers; age, poor diet, smoking, alcohol and a sedentary lifestyle can increase your likelihood of developing bowel cancers. Sometimes having close family who have had colon cancer can also increase your risk, so parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents.

Having long term bowel complications like crohns and ulcerative colitis increases your risk too.

Unfortunately, bowel cancer has a relatively high level of reoccurrence but it’s not a death sentence. Catching cancer early is always your best bet!

There is nothing that doctors haven’t seen before, any changes to your body, make an appointment!

My own experience is both my grandmothers had bowel cancer, both unfortunately progressed passed the point of treatment. My paternal grans cancer metastasized to her lungs and passed away aged 50, too early to have ever done a bowel screening.

My maternal gran went to the doctor on several occasions with bowel complications and was treated for indigestion. By the time the cancer was found, it was unfortunately too progressed for anything other than palliative treatment. Know yourself, and push for a resolve