The awareness of bowel cancer and detecting it early is something that you hear more about these days. Driving into work the other morning I heard a radio campaign which many of you may have heard. Listing classic symptoms such as;
- A persistent change of bowel habit together with blood on or in your stools
- Abdominal pain
- Discomfort or bloating always provoked by eating
- Sometimes resulting in a reduction in the amount of food eaten
- Weight loss.
These are just some of the symptoms of bowel cancer.
The key message in the radio campaign is to be diligent and proactive. Go and see your Doctor to get your symptoms checked out. Do not feel like you are wasting your GP’s time. Do not dismiss symptoms as a one off or to put it down to something you ate. It could significantly affect your chance of beating bowel cancer.
Who is at risk?
The NHS website categorises those who are at risk. Although it is not known exactly what causes bowel cancer it states there are a number of things that can increase your risk such as –
- Age, 9 in 10 cases occur in people aged 60 or over
- Diet – a diet that is high in processed or red meats and low in fibre can also increase ones risk
- Exercise – being inactive
- Weight – it is more common in people who are overweight or obese
- Family history – having a close relative who develops bowel cancer below 50 years of age puts you at a greater risk
Sadly, Patrick Maguire lost his wife Pam, to bowel cancer in 2007. He has since persuaded his local MP to ensure that the awareness of symptoms is kept high on the political agenda.
In this sad case, Pam visited her GP 3 times over 2 years with symptoms which included extreme tiredness and abdominal pain, initially she was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Then a second diagnosis of Diverticulitis was made and then eventually she was diagnosed with depression.
When she experienced severe pain and discomfort she attended her local A&E Department and was admitted with a kidney infection.
If bowel cancer is detected early enough it can be treated. Unfortunately Pam never had a chance of surviving as her bowel cancer was discovered too late.
It is therefore so important to ensure that everyone is aware of the symptoms so that an early diagnosis can be made and more importantly treatment can commence.
This is certainly one radio campaign that really did make me think and I hope that it does have this effect on fellow listeners. As a Clinical Negligence Lawyer I see first-hand how important it is to ensure you seek medical attention quickly.
With harsh statistics of 1 in 3 people developing cancer at some point in their life awareness certainly is key.
