Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, with around 42,900 people diagnosed with the condition each year.
It is a general term for cancer that begins in the large bowel but can also be called colon or rectal cancer. While it typically affects older people, with almost nine out of 10 people who are diagnosed with bowel cancer aged 60 or over, it can develop before that.
This comes after 47-year-old Merlin Griffiths, the bartender on Channel 4's First Dates, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in September 2021. Merlin has recently admitted that he ignored some of the early signs, leading to his stage three diagnosis.
Merlin told The Sun : "I tried to convince myself that the pain just wasn't important. I managed to pull the wool over my own eyes for a worryingly long time"
The Channel 4 bartending star admitted that the "'long and slow" road to recovery could have been avoided if he went to the GP when symptoms first began. Merlin spoke to BBC Breakfast this week about the importance of catching symptoms early.
He told presenter Jon Kay: "I should have got there earlier but I did get there. I think it's very important that people follow up these symptoms. The sooner you catch it the better it is for you."
Here are some of the key bowel cancer symptoms that you should look out for, and as Merlin suggested, should get checked out - even if just to rule out the possibility.
Bowel cancer symptoms
According to Scotland's NHS Inform, the three main symptoms of bowel cancer are blood in the stools, changes in bowel habit – such as more frequent, looser stools – and abdominal pain.
Further symptoms, as identified by Cancer Research UK, can include:
- bleeding from the back passage (rectum) or blood in your poo
- a change in your normal bowel habit, such as looser poo, pooing more often or constipation
- a lump that your doctor can feel in your back passage or tummy (abdomen), more commonly on the right side
- a feeling of needing to strain in your back passage (as if you need to poo), even after opening your bowels
- losing weight
- pain in your abdomen or back passage
- tiredness and breathlessness caused by a lower than normal level of red blood cells (anaemia)
The charity research group adds that cancer can block the bowel. This is called a bowel obstruction and could lead to further possible warning signs.
Symptoms of bowel instruction can include cramping pains in the abdomen, feeling bloated, constipation, being unable to pass wind or being sick.
While you should contact your GP about general symptoms, a bowel obstruction is an emergency and you should go to A&E at your nearest hospital.
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