Most people find bowel cancer when they first do colonoscopy, remind: 5 kinds of discomfort, check as soon as possible

Mr. Chen, in his early forties, is a senior executive of a small company, so he can be regarded as young and promising.

But since the end of last year, Mr. Chen had blood in his stool. At first, he thought it was hemorrhoids. He thought hemorrhoids were very common and they might heal up in a few days, so he didn't pay much attention.

A week later, I went to the hospital for an examination because of unbearable abdominal pain. The doctor suggested further colonoscopy, but because of busy work, I was a little bit resistant to colonoscopy, so I declined.

It dragged on until last month, Mr. Chen had more and more bloody stools, accompanied by abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, poor appetite and other discomforts , which obviously affected his life and work, so he had to go to the hospital for colonoscopy . Unexpectedly, this investigation turned out to be advanced rectal cancer.

In China, less than 15% of people over the age of 50 have undergone colonoscopy , and this is one of the main factors that cause many people to find that bowel cancer is in the middle and late stage.

1. Why are most people unwilling to do colonoscopy?

In recent years, the incidence of bowel cancer has been soaring. According to the latest national cancer statistics released by the National Cancer Center in 2022, there are more than 400,000 new cases of colorectal cancer in China every year, and most of them are in the middle and late stages when they are discovered. .

The main reason for this situation is that many people are unwilling to undergo colonoscopy due to the low rate of colonoscopy.

Most people may not know that bowel cancer is actually one of the most preventable cancers, because it often takes 5-10 years from precancerous lesions to bowel cancer. During this period, as long as we can be vigilant and screen regularly , can detect early colorectal cancer in time.

Zhang Kai, deputy director of the Cancer Prevention and Physical Examination Center of the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, believes that among the common cancers, colon cancer and cervical cancer are the easiest to reduce morbidity and mortality through screening. For early colorectal cancer, after standard treatment, the 5-year survival rate of stage 1 and stage 2 patients both exceeds 90%.

Based on this, both the WHO and the Anti-Cancer Alliance believe that bowel cancer is one of the tumors that are very suitable for early screening.

In addition to the early detection of colon cancer abnormalities by colonoscopy, a study by the Stanford University team involving more than 6 million people directly pointed out that if colonoscopy can be performed early (after the age of 45), compared with those who do not receive the examination, Reduce the risk of colon cancer by 50% .

But in real life, very few people are willing to undergo colonoscopy. Why? There are mainly 2 reasons:

One is that bowel cancer is far away from me, and there is no need to do it, and bowel cancer is very good at "hiding" myself. In the early stage, there are often no "traces" , so it is easy to be ignored;

The second is that traditional colonoscopy is more painful, not only the process is cumbersome (you need to take laxatives for bowel preparation after fasting for 1-2 days), but also has obvious discomfort, which leads to poor acceptance by the public .

In short, colonoscopy is of great significance in the prevention and treatment of bowel cancer. Patients should do it, otherwise it may delay the best time for diagnosis and treatment of bowel cancer.

2. There are 5 symptoms in the body, it is time to check

Before bowel cancer occurs, the body will also send out some "help" signals. When the following symptoms appear in the body, it means that you should have a checkup.

1. Frequent blood in stool

Don't take hemorrhoids for granted as soon as blood in the stool appears. Intestinal cancer can also cause blood in the stool, so pay attention to distinguishing it. Generally speaking, hemorrhoids have blood in the stool, the color is bright red, and it mostly sticks to the surface of the stool and does not mix with the stool.

For bowel cancer, blood in the stool is usually darker in color, dark red or jam-colored , and the blood can be mixed with the stool.

2. Appearance of abdominal mass

If you can feel a hard mass in the right middle abdomen, accompanied by abdominal pain, anemia and other discomforts, you should be alert to bowel cancer.

3. Abdominal pain

It is also a typical manifestation of bowel cancer, especially for patients with right colon cancer, which is mostly dull pain. If it is complicated by intestinal obstruction, it can be manifested as abdominal cramps.

4. Changes in bowel habits

If the frequency of defecation increases inexplicably, from "1 poop a day" to "3-4 poops a day" or "1 poop every 3-4 days"; the shape of stool changes from soft and formed to flat and thin with grooves ; Diarrhea and constipation appear alternately... Also be alert to bowel cancer.

5. Anemia, fatigue

As the tumor grows, patients may experience varying degrees of anemia, accompanied by fatigue, fatigue and other discomfort.

If you have one or more of the above symptoms, you must be highly vigilant against bowel cancer and seek medical advice in time for colonoscopy and other examinations to confirm the diagnosis.

3. How long can a colonoscopy last? Attention high-risk groups

Different from some that require regular annual inspections, in fact, as long as you don’t worry about it and do a colonoscopy, you can rest assured for several years.

Academician Li Zhaoshen once said: "Colonoscopy is of great significance to the prevention of bowel cancer. It must be done after the age of 45. Don't be afraid of trouble. One colonoscopy can prevent you from being harassed by bowel cancer for 5-10 years ."

In view of the high incidence of bowel cancer in middle-aged and elderly people, it is recommended that healthy people aged 40 to 74, even if there is no obvious discomfort or abnormality, it is best to have a colonoscopy screening ; ahead of time.

People at high risk for bowel cancer include:

① First-degree relatives (parents, children, and brothers and sisters) have a history of colorectal cancer;

②Patients have any history of cancer;

③The patient had a history of intestinal polyps before;

④Patients with ≥ 2 of the following conditions at the same time: mucus and bloody stools, chronic constipation (accumulative duration of diarrhea for more than 3 months within 2 years), chronic diarrhea (accumulative duration of constipation for more than 2 months within 2 years), history of chronic biliary tract disease or cholecystectomy History of chronic appendicitis or appendectomy.

If you belong to the above groups, it is recommended to perform colonoscopy screening as soon as possible.

Colonoscopy is an effective means of screening and diagnosis of bowel cancer, and the incidence of bowel cancer has been increasing year by year in recent years, so it is necessary for everyone to pay attention, especially for high-risk groups of bowel cancer. mirror screening.

Don't blindly refuse to do colonoscopy because of the fear of colonoscopy. This will easily delay the best time for diagnosis and treatment of colon cancer, and it will be too late to regret.

References:

[1] "Is colon cancer late when it is discovered?" Physical examination and stool are really important... ". Life Times. 2022-01-26

[2] "Ninety percent of early cancers can be cured, and late cancers are almost dead!" Why are you reluctant to go for bowel cancer screening? ". Health Times. 2017-10-15

[3] "No kidding! Once these symptoms appear, colorectal cancer may have already arrived, and it is not too late to deal with it." Digestive Liver Disease Channel in the Medical World. 2022-02-13

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