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The human digestive system is quite complex, and performs a variety of functions to break down food, provide the body with the proper amount of nourishment to survive, and expel waste from the body. This system is comprised of several different components. One of the main components is the esophagus, which is the main pathway that food travels down to reach the stomach where it is then digested. Once the food has been digested, it then empties into the small bowel which is several yards in length. Here it continues to digest, which allows the blood stream to absorb a variety of important nutrients. Once the small bowel has completed its job, the leftover material is brought to the large bowel, also referred to as the colon, and the waste is removed from the body by means of the rectum and the anus.
This is a form of cancer that usually affects the rectum or the colon. They are usually combined into one category because the symptoms, treatment, and causes of this type of rectal and colon cancer is very similar and the rectum is regarded as part of the large bowel.
Regrettably, it has become quite common and is now the third most common type of cancer affecting people in the United States; following only breast and lung cancer. Men are typically more affected than women.
Cases of this cancer are more commonly found in older people, as those over the age of seventy have higher incidence rates. People under the age of fifty have fewer incidence rates. That being said, there are risk factors attributed to bowel cancer. Two syndromes that are inherited and can cause cases of early bowel cancer include: familiar adenomatous polyposis (FAP), and hereditary non-polyposis bowel cancer (HNPCC).
People who carry the gene for inherited HNPCC are responsible for between two and five percent of all reported cases. These individuals have as much as an eighty percent chance of developing bowel cancer at some time in the lives. People who have FAP usually have a number of polyps in their colon, some of which will turn cancerous during the lifetime, and usually before the age of forty. It is quite important that these patients are monitored regularly so that polyps can be removed promptly before they become dangerous.
Not only are those with the above mentioned syndromes considered to be at a higher risk, those with relatives who have had bouts with bowel cancer are also at a higher risk for developing the disease themselves. Relatives who are considered to be a first degree, such as a mother, father, brother or sister, and who have been diagnosed with this type of cancer before the age of forty five, place their kin at a higher risk of developing the cancer themselves.
Other individuals who are considered to be at high risk for developing bowel cancer include those who have chronic inflammation of the bowel, such as that which is caused by ulcerative colitis or a medical condition such as Crohn's disease. Patients with these issues are often monitored closely by means of routine bowel exams that make use of a specialized tool called a colonoscope.
Bowel cancer can form in either the lower portion of the bowel referred to as the colon or in the upper portion of the bowel referred to as the small bowel. In either situation, symptoms associated with the disease can mimic other conditions that are less serious in nature, which often lead to a dismissal of the symptoms being nothing significant, or even a complete misdiagnosis. Your doctor needs to take all symptom concerns seriously, and perform in depth examinations, as well as follow up exams by gastroenterology specialists.
Commonly reported symptoms related to bowel cancer include the following: blood in the stool, fatigue, constipation, diarrhea, other changes in bowel habits, weight loss, and discomfort. Bowel cancer can also cause obstructions to develop which can lead to nausea, bloating, constipation, and pain. Diagnosing bowel cancer can be done by using several different methods, all of which require human interpretation which can be subject to misdiagnosis if proper care is not used. Blood tests should be ordered, as well as physical examinations need to be completed. Internal examinations by use of a signoidoscopy and protoscopy are also required.
Commonly reported symptoms related to small bowel cancer include the following: blood in the stool, weight loss, diarrhea, and dark tarry stools. Like other forms of bowel cancer, small bowel cancer can also cause blockages, which can cause the bowel to rupture. Diagnosis of this form of the disease also requires physical examinations, an endoscopy, or a colonoscopy that will collect tissue samples in order for further analysis in a laboratory.
The longer a patient goes without a proper diagnosis, the higher the changes the cancer will spread, and the less likely a positive outcome will result. This can be truly devastating as bowel cancer does have a high rate of survival if it is caught in its earliest stages.
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