Colorectal Cancer: Early Signs, Timely Detection, Survival November 12
In a recent post, we shared with you some of the improvements that will make colonoscopies even better. While these improvements will not yet make the screening procedure perfect, they will at least improve its performance in as far as assisting doctors in making more accurate diagnoses is concerned.
Colorectal cancer is one of the diseases that can be rather difficult to detect in time, being as it were that the condition does not usually produce symptoms during its early stages. The thing, though, is that early detection is extremely important for this disease, as it can spell the difference between survival and – well, what the opposite of survival is.
This is why we feel that it may be worth our while to reiterate the various symptoms that we ought to be sensitive to in order to catch colorectal cancer early on. We have already shared these in various posts at equally various points in time, and the coincidental announcement of advances in colonoscopies may be a good time to bring this up again. After all, who will be asking for colonoscopies if no one recognizes the symptoms that ought to bring them to their doctor’s office?
First are noticeable changes in bowel movements, which include either persistent constipation or diarrhea. One should also be conscious of feeling like one cannot empty one’s bowel completely, or noticing rectal bleeding.
Observing one’s stool is important for those who are wary of colorectal cancer. Dark patches of blood in or on the stool as well as having long, thin “pencil stools” should set off alarm bells – although we are not in any way implying that it is time to panic. One should also be conscious of intermittent abdominal discomfort and bloating, as well as persistent unexplained fatigue and loss of appetite or weight.
Tags: colon cancer detection, colon cancer signs, colorectal cancer detection, colorectal cancer symptoms