Gillian McKeith: People must speak out

People are "too quiet" about bowel cancer and its symptoms, according to health guru Gillian McKeith.

Ms McKeith, who has shown no qualms examining people's poo on television to assess their health, wants people to be less embarrassed about talking to their GP about bottom-related problems.

She has joined forces with the charity Beating Bowel Cancer's Be Loud! campaign to help "bring awareness about this disease into the open".

"The aim is to raise awareness and vital funds to help save lives from this very common but treatable disease," Ms McKeith told inthenews.co.uk.

"I want people to be aware of the symptoms and to not be afraid to speak out about what they find in their poo!"

Symptoms of bowel cancer 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.

People experiencing one or more of these problems for a couple of weeks are advised to visit their GP.

"It's something that needs to come out," Ms McKeith said.

"We're all quite comfortable talking about breast cancer and lung cancer which is extremely fortunate but we're not comfortable talking about bowels and our bowel habits and our poos.

"We can't be embarrassed by this - it shouldn't be something we're afraid of."