Bowel Cancer Awareness

June is bowel cancer awareness month.  Bowel cancer is one of the commoner types of cancer and is curable if caught early.  Bowel cancer affects around one in thirteen of us, is slightly more common in men, and the rate of bowel cancer in younger people is rising. 

It is important to look out for the signs and symptoms, and to present to your doctor early if you notice anything of concern. 

Symptoms of bowel cancer include:

·      A change in bowel habit; this may include diarrhoea, constipation or a change in how often you have a bowel movement.

·      A change in the consistency of your bowel motions; they might be smaller or larger, a different colour, or just look different.

·      Blood; this might be mixed in with your poo, on the toilet paper or in the toilet pan.

·      Abdominal pain and/or cramping.

·      Bloating.

·      Pain in the rectum or anus.

·      The sensation that you haven’t fully emptied your rectum after a bowel movement.

·      Everyone can have variations in their poo but look for changes that are sustained.

·      Weight loss.

·      Fatigue.

·      Anaemia (usually with iron deficiency, but not always).

There are also some things which increase your risk of bowel caner.  These include:

·      Family history of bowel cancer.

·      Inflammatory bowel disease.

·      High dietary intake of red meat and/or processed meat.

·      A history of polyps in the colon/bowel.

·      Obesity.

·      High alcohol intake.

·      Smoking.

·      Previously having had bowel cancer.

If you have any of these signs, symptoms or risk factors talk to your health professional about them.

When you see your doctor, they will ask some questions about your concerns.  It is helpful to tell them if you are worried about bowel cancer.  They might ask to examine your abdomen and may recommend an examination of the rectum. Remember, you have a right to decline any examination and please don’t let this deter you from speaking to your doctor.

Your doctor may recommend some blood tests, doing a poo test called a faecal occult blood test (FOB) or may recommend a colonoscopy.

A colonoscopy is usually done as an outpatient, which means you don’t need to be admitted to hospital.  Two days before the test you follow a special diet and the day before the test you take some medication called bowel preparation or bowel prep. This gives you diarrhoea which clears the faeces from the bowel. This allows the specialist who does the colonoscopy to see the bowel clearly.  The test involves a flexible tube being inserted into the anus and passed around the colon to look for anything of concern.  You are normally asleep during this part and most patients don’t remember the test.

There is a national bowel screening programme. This involves doing the FOB test every two years, from age 50 until 74.  If you have risk factors, it might be worth having a chat to your doctor about starting the screening tests earlier.

Like all types of cancer, the earlier is it found, the better the prognosis. We know that it can be intimidating and scary talking about these symptoms, being examined or going for tests.  Please talk to your GP about any concerns you have.