Symptoms of Colorectal Cancer

Knowing the symptoms of colorectal cancer helps you to get diagnosed early in the disease, increasing your odds of curing the disease.

Signs to Watch Out For

When you are concerned that you might have colon cancer, there are often a number of good reasons. For one, you might have a hereditary predisposition, though this does not mean that you are certain to have the disease.

What you do want to watch out for are these signs:

• Rectal bleeding.
• Blood in the stool.
• Weakness.
• Fatigue.
• Unintentional weight loss.
• Abdominal discomfort – pain, gas, bloating, etc.
• Feelings of bowel fullness, even after defecating.
• Changes in your bowel movements lasting more than two weeks.

If you should have any of these signs, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor about what you might do next. You may be advised to simply monitor your colon’s health or you might be given a stool sample test to use at home. This test will check for blood in the stool.

When a doctor is not sure whether colon cancer is present or not, more tests can be done, including:

• Blood tests.
• Barium enema.
• Colonoscopy.
• X-rays.
• CT.

If cancer is found, then the doctor will follow up with other tests to see what stage of colon cancer might be present.

Regular screenings for colon cancer should begin at the age of 50.