WARNING SIGNS OF GASTROINTESTINAL CANCERS: A WAY TO DETECT CANCER EARLY
Cancer of gastrointestinal tract or digestive tract is a major health problem all over the world, it is a substantial portion of all cancers and its incidence has been increasing day by day. Gastrointestinal cancer includes cancer of food pipe, stomach, large and small intestine, liver, pancreas, gall bladder and bile duct.
They usually occur in elderly person mostly after 50 years but now it has started seeing in younger population also. The problem with gastrointestinal cancers is that they usually do not produce significant and specific symptoms at their early stage and when they give specific symptoms they are usually at their late stage where curative treatment may not be possible. So, if these cancers can be detected somehow during their initial stage, their curative treatment becomes possible and we can fight with the cancer.
Gastrointestinal cancers though do not give rise to specific symptoms at early stage they do give certain warning signs. If these warning signs are picked up early and possibility of these cancers suspected timely, by further tests these can be detected in their early stage. The warning signs are: loss of appetite and significant weight loss, low haemoglobin level, difficulty in swallowing food, passing blood or mucus in stool or having black colored stool, jaundice etc. When one or more of these symptoms is seen especially in elderly people, possibility of cancer should be suspected. These symptoms in the presence of risk factors further increase the possibility of having cancer. The common risk factors are: smoking, alcohol, tobacco, someone in family having cancer, diet lack in antioxidants, fruits and vegetables etc.
Once these warning signs are observed it is advisable to consult gastrointestinal surgeon or gastroenterologist. If your doctor strongly feels the risk of gastrointestinal cancer, he or she will advise certain screening tests to detect cancer. These screening tests might be blood reports, sonography of abdomen, endoscopy or colonoscopy or CT scan. These test should be get done strictly under the advice of gastrointestinal expert. By creating awareness about these warning signs and having screening tests under the guidance of doctor can tremendously help in fighting with the cancer.
In our country, due to lack of awareness majority of cancers are detected in late stage and so curative treatment can not becomes impossible for them. If these warning signs are kept in mind and immediately doctor is consulted, these cancers can be detected in early phase and so these cancers can be fought back. Still people do believe that treatment of cancer is not possible but in present era it is not entirely true. Any cancer if detected early can be treated with curative intent. Awareness about the warning signs of gastrointestinal cancers and their risk factors should be spread well, so they can be prevented, detected early and treated well. By adopting healthy life style, regular exercise, avoiding smoking and alcohol, eating lots of fruits and salads in diet, risk of cancer can be reduced.