Do you frequently conjecture concerning the actual fitness of your intestinal system? How will you tell if you have superior colorectal health, or could it be that your slight colorectal issues a sign of a far more severe health problem?
Initial colorectal symptoms are unnoticeable and are often intentionally ignored by suffering individuals. Yet, when these symptoms have gone too far unattended, they become debilitating and this also signifies that colorectal cancer has reached its terminal stage. Actually, it is difficult to determine the existence of colorectal cancer due to the ambiguity of the disease symptoms. Likewise, malignancy in the colon may resemble common gastrointestinal disturbances, which may also be present in other medical conditions. Recognition of the symptoms is significant in the diagnosis of colorectal malignancy but it will not deliver a definite answer whether a person has cancer or not; neither the absence of symptoms can give a guarantee of becoming cancer-free.
The colorectal cancer symptoms aggravate as the malignancy heads toward the later stage. The asymptomatic illness suddenly becomes filled with disturbing manifestations, particularly abdominal pain that is present even during the earlier stage of colorectal cancer. This pain has something to do with the devastation cancer cells can do as the tumor becomes bigger. Aside from damaging the blood vessels, the increasing size of the tissue overgrowth puts on too much pressure on the nearby nerve endings resulting to pain. Overall, the symptom presentation of colorectal cancer is affected by the severity of the disease, location and size of the tissue overgrowth.
Likewise, the colon is one of the major organs of the digestive system. Hence, colorectal cancer is usually manifested by symptoms that are gastrointestinal in nature such as the following:
- Thin stool
- Gassy stomach
- Abrupt weight reduction
- Abdominal flatulence;
- Sensation of incomplete stool elimination
- Blood in stool either fresh bright red or dark old blood;
- Nausea and vomiting; and
- Weight loss
Furthermore, individuals suffering from colorectal cancer will usually have intestinal hemorrhage that often results to anemia. Therefore, they appear pale and they may complain for body weakness or feeling of being always exhausted even without getting involved in strenuous activities. Similarly, the aforementioned anemia is not only caused by blood loss. The cancer tissues mostly take in iron and other body nutrients like a parasite that leads to iron deficiency anemia and sudden weight reduction.
In the long run, colorectal cancer will spread and invade tissues and lymph nodes closer to the site of malignancy and may metastasize to other body organs farther from the said site. There are instances that the cancer cells cause too much erosion into the tissues up to the point of perforating the colon. Then, the peritoneum and the pelvic area get filled with intestinal contents that had leaked out from the perforated colon, which often cause peritonitis or inflammation of the peritoneum.