|
Health Topics
Common Medical Conditions
Women's Health
Men's Health
Kid's Health
Drugs & Supplements
The Natural Alternative
Fitness
Diet
Mental Care
Pregnancy
Babies
Cancer
Health Tools
Browse the Articles
|
Bowel Cancer - it's something to talk about
People are funny about the bowel. They simply don’t like talking about it.
It's Saturday morning and my neighbour, Philip, brings out the mower and the rake, mows his lawn, trims his garden edges and blows the gum leaves out of the gutter of his house. It’s been the same routine every week for the past ten years, but while Phil is only too happy to attend to his house and car, he has put aside a personal problem that has plagued him for years.
Philip has cancer affecting the lower part of his bowel, the colon. It’s pretty advanced. He said, "I just thought the bleeding was due to haemorrhoids and I kept putting off getting treatment."
Colon or bowel cancer is the most common internal cancer in Australian men and women. Eight thousand new cases are diagnosed every year and often the main symptom is bleeding from the bowel. The trouble is the bleeding Phil suffered was like that from the haemorrhoids he had had diagnosed ten years ago. "Anyway, I didn’t like the doctor examining my rear end." So he put off a proper investigation and treatment.
Bowel cancer, called colorectal cancer, is a slow-growing tumour and may give few, if any, symptoms for years.
Colorectal cancer tends to happen in people over the age of 50, but younger folk who have an inherited condition may get it earlier. However, it is slow-growing with a high prospect of cure if detected early.
A precursor of the tumour is often the presence of polyps, small outpouchings in the internal lining of the bowel. Families with an inherited history of polyps are at special risk and Phil’s older brother had died of bowel cancer when he was in his early 50s.
Like his brother, after investigation, Phil was found to have polyposis coli. His many polyps, which started to outpouch at the time of puberty, are much more sensitive to cancerous changes in the bowel. Although people with colon cancer may have no symptoms at all, they often quietly bleed into the bowel in such a way that special tests are needed to recognise blood. However, it’s a good idea for everyone over the age of 40 to check their stools for unusual signs, such as bleeding.
Professor Terry Bolin is the president of the GUT Foundation. "We just have to overcome this horror of examining the toilet bowl. Careful observation can save lives," he says.
Although rectal bleeding is the classic sign of cancer, it’s important to recognise that any persistent change in bowel habits, such as feeling of incomplete emptying, ongoing constipation or diarrhoea, is worth reporting.
After discussion, an examination of the rectum is performed to attempt to identify polyps or hardened areas of the bowel wall. A sigmoidoscopy may be done next, where a lighted hollow tube allows the doctor to examine the rectum and the lower part of the colon. If that doesn't reveal the cause of the symptoms, it may be necessary to have a barium enema, which is an x-ray of the colon, to attempt to identify polyps.
Colonoscopy is a modern technique that has allowed a change in the way the bowel is investigated. It involves the passage of a fine telescope into the lower part of the bowel to inspect the colon. If polyps or a growth are detected, they are removed with a wire snare and sent to pathology to be tested for cancerous changes. This allows immediate treatment to begin if any of the cells show changes.
Phil has had to have a large part of his bowel removed and is having radiotherapy. His three adult children are having colonoscopies to assess if they have polyposis like their father and uncle, and are at risk of bowel cancer.
"Now I can be content my children are aware of the risk. But I can’t say it to people often enough: please stay aware. Any bleeding need to be checked by your doctor," Phil said.
For more information go the Colorectal Foundation or the the GUT Foundation websites.
|
|
