Bowel Cancer - the risks and how you can help minimise them - Derry GP Dr Tom

Early diagnosis is all about being alerted to the symptoms of bowel cancer such as a change in bowel habit lasting more than three weeks, weight loss, abdominal pain or blood in the poo. A feeling that your bowel hasn’t emptied fully, bloating or a low blood count (anaemia) are also concerning features.

If you have any of these problems you should phone into your GP practice, explain that you have an urgent problem and you will be seen, examined, blood tests and poo samples will be sent to the hospital and you may need referral for a colonoscopy where a camera is inserted into your bowel to check for lesions and to take biopsies if needed.

What is even more important than diagnosing bowel cancer is how to prevent it. In my career as a GP I’ve learnt that if you don’t look after your bowel it will make your life a misery as it’s a very unforgiving organ and likes to be treated well. Let’s look at what your bowel doesn’t like and what things are likely to increase your risk of bowel cancer. Like the rest of your body it doesn’t like smoking or too much alcohol. It doesn’t like processed foods or low fibre diets and your bowel doesn’t like your body being obese. 54% of bowel cancer cases are preventable by adopting healthy habits such as eating five portions of fruit and vegetables per day, taking plenty of exercise to stay fit, making sure you’re not overweight, avoiding smoking and only taking moderate alcohol and processed meats in your diet. We’re seeing an increase in a number of bowel complaints in addition to a worldwide increase in bowel cancer under 50 years of age. These diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome and diverticulitis seem to be associated with the same causes such as a low fibre diet, obesity and decreased exercise. About half of all 50-year-olds now have diverticular disease and this usually presents with symptoms similar to bowel cancer with left sided tummy pain, diarrhoea, constipation, bloating and blood in the poo with complications of inflammation and infection causing the more painful symptoms of diverticulitis.

We’re seeing diverticulitis more often in younger people with bad diets, particularly if they’re abusing Co-Codamol which causes constipation. This can result in serious complications such as abscess formation in the bowel and perforation with the risk of peritonitis and this can end up with the patient having a colostomy bag.

Northern Ireland has a very effective bowel screening program where everyone between the ages of 60 and 74 years of age are sent a bowel screening kit every two years looking for blood in their poo. A colonoscopy can then be done to diagnose the cause if there is blood and as previously mentioned an early diagnosis results in 90% survival rates if cancer is found.

Most people don’t like talking about their bowels and their poo, but it is important to be a good friend to your own bowel and if you look after it, it will look after you.