Colon cancer is common, and often hard to detect. Colon cancer usually starts in the form of polyps in the large intestine. Unfortunately, this growth doesn’t manifest any visible symptoms. Most of the symptoms of colon cancer are difficult to notice, and are usually non-specific.
Something as casual as breathlessness, fatigue, and irritable bowel syndrome can be colon cancer warning signs. Most patients notice a change in their bowel habits and complain of narrow stool, frequent diarrhea or constipation. Unexpected weight loss, blood in stool, and bloating are commonly noticed symptoms of colon cancer. On the positive side, these non-specific symptoms are also common to relatively less harmful diseases like ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, diverticulosis, and peptic ulcers.
Colon cancer does not develop quickly. It takes years for cancerous cells to take root in the intestine and multiply. Despite the prolonged development lifecycle, colon cancer is difficult to discern, as the symptoms do not show at all until the growth and damage is significant. The right side of our colon is quite large, and detecting a small cancerous growth in this area is difficult. The growth can multiply to a large mass before it creates any blockage. If patients are alert to their health condition, they are likely to notice an iron deficiency in their body if there is a right-sided cancer growing in their intestine. Iron deficiency manifests itself in fatigue and weakness.
In contrast, the left side of our large intestine is narrower and any cancerous growth in this region will block the digestive path much quicker. If the left side of the colon is blocked, the patient is likely to experience constipation or diarrhea, narrowed stool, abdominal pains, cramps, or bloating. These will continue despite regular eating habits and exercise.
All in all, the symptoms of colon cancer are non-specific and none of them can conclusively ascertain if the patient has cancer. The only formal and definitive way of diagnosing colon cancer is clinically testing for it.
Related Articles of Interest :
-
Colon Cancer
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
Colon cancer occurs in the large intestine or the large bowel and is a very common kind of cancer, second only to lung cancer in occurrence. The risk of colon cancer is higher in certain groups and ethnicities, as well as in people living in...
-
Colon Cancer Treatment
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
Colon cancer is a very dominant kind of cancer that has an occurrence rate only second to lung cancer. Research has been done for several years in an attempt to find treatment methods for colon cancer. Today, there are three common kinds of treatment for...
-
Ovarian Cancer Symptoms
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
The symptoms of ovarian cancer come into notice mostly when it grows for some time and the cancer mass becomes large enough. Some women, however, may feel some symptoms, like pelvic pain, even in the early stages. As the symptoms are vague and are often...
-
Colon Cancer Prevention
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
We did not know the exact cause of most colon cancers. Despite this, there are many methods to successfully avoid colon cancer. Some methods are lifestyle-related, while others are clinical. One such way is to get regularly tested for colon cancer. Screening can help detect...
-
Lung Cancer Symptoms
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
In approximately 25% of people with lung cancer, there are no symptoms and the cancer is detected during screening or a routine physical examination. However, in three-quarters of lung cancer patients there are warning symptoms and signs that can alert the patient or their physician....
-
Prostate Cancer Symptoms
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
The prostrate is a walnut-sized gland found only in males. It surrounds the urethra near the neck of the bladder, in front of the rectum. It secretes seminal fluid to nourish the sperm, and ejects it during ejaculation. We know the prostrate less for its...
-
Mesothelioma Stomach Symptoms
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
Stomach or abdominal symptoms are often experienced by patients with peritoneal mesothelioma. This type of mesothelioma is a cancer of the peritoneal cells that line the abdomen. Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma are insidious and often tend to be confused for symptoms of more common, and...
-
Constipation Symptoms
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
Constipation is a subjective feeling of insufficient evacuation of the bowel, and dry or painful passing of stool. There is a popular misconception that it is a must to have at least one bowel movement every day. Medical facts do not support this view. There...
-
Colon Cleansing
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
Of all the vital organs in the body, the one that suffers the most abuse from modern habits is the colon. When diet, drugs, chemicals and stress irritate the colon, it tries to produce more mucus to protect itself. This mucus binds with food residues...
-
Prostate Cancer
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
The prostrate is a gland found only in males and located in front of the rectum, on the neck of the bladder. It is a walnut-sized gland about 3 cm in size that encircles the urethra. The prostrate produces seminal fluids and, along with the...