Constipation and Blood in stools? It's not always piles

March : Colon Cancer Awareness Month

Constipation and Blood in stools? It's not always piles.

I have such a hectic schedule that it's very difficult to exercise and eat those salads & fruits on time.

Maybe I'll eat those when I go on a holiday (even though everyone including me knows I won't).

If you're one of those people who resonates with this thought, you need to read this.

So many of us have some constipation, some or the other times. We take it lightly, try to ignore it until it becomes painful, uncomfortable one day or we see blood in the stool. The family physicians/surgeons will almost always diagnose piles (sometimes without examining you). But some of the unfortunate times, they can be wrong, and it can cost you.

Blood in stools itself is an alarm symptom, doctors say.

Even piles are a result of long-standing constipation, indicating bad gut health.

Especially when bleeding is associated with weight loss, loss of appetite, abdominal pains, it rings a bell for something much more sinister: colon cancer.

Patients at risk are those who have prolonged constipation, bleeding, tobacco chewers, smokers and alcohol fans. Cigarette smoking, tobacco chewing and alcohol drinking increases your risk of colon cancer by 10 times. Add to that a non-veg predominant diet with red meats (mutton, beef, pork), and the risk jumps to 20 times.

How to screen for an early cancer and nip it in the bud?

Colonoscopy is a very simple answer.

Consult your Gastroenterologist if you or your family members have had these symptoms.

Colon cancer also runs in the family.

If your parents, uncles or aunts have had it, it's a good reason to get a colonoscopy yourself. Early cancers are treatable without an open surgery. Just a small endoscopic procedure (polypectomy) is more than enough to cut out early cancers.

You have to get a screening colonoscopy every few years, so that you don't develop early cancers over & over again.

But a small, 10-minute colonoscopy once a year is life saving.