Coloproctologist Alexander Malyshev told whether it is possible to recognize bowel cancer at an early stage. It is known that in Russia it is one of the most common types of oncology.
More often the disease is detected in men (in second place after lung cancer) and less often in women (in frequency it follows breast and cervical cancer).
Cancer (and not only the intestines) is insidious in that it manifests itself at a late stage, when changes become irreversible. If it could be recognized at the first stage, then the mortality from this disease would be drastically reduced. As a rule, the tumor grows slowly and does not make itself felt for a long time.
As for bowel cancer, its prevalence is associated with the difficulties of early diagnosis. The intestine is very long, and the tumor can occur anywhere.
But if you carefully listen to the signals that the body gives, and undergo an examination on time, then there is a chance to notice the disease in time. There is a sign that can appear at an early stage.
– The first stage is often accompanied by minimal symptoms. This is increased gas formation and, in principle, discomfort in the abdomen. This occurs against the background of the development of polyps on the intestinal mucosa. They can be of different sizes. At the first stage, a specialist can remove the formation during a colonoscopy and the percentage that the disease will not return is large enough,— the physician wrote in his blog.
In the second stage of bowel cancer, when the mucosa is already affected, complaints about changes in stool, weight loss, and blood discharge may be added. Further, the tumor affects the entire intestinal wall (third stage) or grows into other organs. In the fourth stage, it can spread to the stomach, bladder and other organs.
– To prevent such consequences, it is necessary to routinely examine the intestines, starting from the age of 45. Then the procedure, if nothing was found, should be done every five years, the doctor emphasized.
Signs of bowel cancer:
- weakness, fatigue;
- lack of appetite, aversion to meat food;
- unreasonable weight loss;
- stool instability (diarrhea alternates with constipation);
- impurities in the feces (blood, mucus, pus);
- subfebrile body temperature;
- aching or cramping abdominal pain.
Possible causes of bowel cancer:
- genetic predisposition;
- celiac disease;
- chronic infectious and inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
- malnutrition;
- smoking;
- exposure to radiation;
- contact with carcinogens.
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The first signs of colon cancer
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The doctor called the signs of cancer small intestine
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Important! Information provided for reference purposes. Ask a specialist about contraindications and side effects and under no circumstances self-medicate. At the first sign of illness, consult a doctor.