Bowel cancer awareness
Friday, 01 Feb 2008 10:58
People need to less embarrassed about speaking to their GPs about bottom-related concerns
Bowel cancer is one of the UK's deadliest diseases but campaigners are concerned public awareness of it is low.
Every year in the UK about 36,100 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer.
The charity Beating Bowel Cancer estimates that one in 18 people will be affected by the disease in their lifetime and that 50 people die every day because of it.
But despite an increase in awareness of other cancers, including breast and testicular cancer, taboos of talking about bowel cancer and problems involving people's bottoms prevent more people being aware of symptoms of the disease.
These include a persistent change in bowel habits; bleeding from the bottom without an obvious cause; abdominal pain - especially severe; and a lump in the tummy.
If people were more aware of the symptoms and therefore presented them to their GP sooner, then more lives could be saved each year through earlier treatment.
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