One of the processes of the human body to get rid of the waste materials that it produces through its metabolism is the excretion of feces, which consist of approximately 25% water, with the rest being made up of such materials as fat, food fiber that has not been fully digested, and digestive residues after dehydration. Healthy people usually have regular bowel movements that occur almost every day. Nevertheless, defecation, being a normal physiological manifestation of people who smoothly excrete excess metabolic waste products from their bodies, by looking at stool, one can actually grasp some signals of physical lesions.
Most of the time, if the color and appearance of feces remain normal, then it can be assumed that the body is in good health at the first glance. However, if these three abnormal manifestations in stools occur within a certain period, one should not underestimate the situation. It could be a sign of cancer, and thus, early medical intervention is very important.
1. Abnormal colouration of stools
Usually, excrement is yellowish-brown in color. Besides, the shape of a defecation is like that of a cylinder. For newborns and infants, light brown or golden-colored stools are normal. But “if there is a prominent change in the color of the stools during a certain period of time, e.g., black coloring or bloody stools with mucus, then bleeding in the digestive tract has to be taken into account. New blood may be mixed with the stool if the source is the colon or rectum because it is a lower gastrointestinal tract bleeding area, the symptoms of which are blood in the stools. Besides, the blood is also mixed with the mucous secretion that covers the digestive tract resulting in stools of reddish and mucus appearance.”
2. Shape altered
In the normal situation, the body releases excrement of medium thickness and a certain amount of moisture, and the excreta have a vertical fall and complete the cylindrical shape. If, however, shapeless stools continue for a long time, then it will additionally reflect that the intestinal area is affected by some problems, which cannot exclude the possibility of cancer.
Clinically, cancer cells keep on growing; thus, the tumor mass will increase significantly, and at the same time, the intestine space will be compressed there, so the place for the stool will be smaller, and the shape will be markedly altered by the compression during the process of stool excretion. Suppose the stool you excrete is flat, etc. abnormal like tenesmus. In that case, you should also think that it relates to bowel cancer and must be checked further by going to the hospital immediately.
3. Prolonged diarrhoea
Frequent diarrhea makes it quite easy for the body to lose nutrients. Moreover, in the worst cases, it can only lead to the loss of water, which then affects the individual’s physical health.
Long-lasting diarrhea may also be connected to cancer. It implies that, if diarrhea is very frequent within a certain period, you should not only think of the potential health risk of cancer, among other concerns. For instance, when pancreatic cancer and intestinal cancer happen, patients are likely to experience diarrhea-related symptoms along with those of indigestion. The rest is that if diarrhea still can not be controlled with diet changes and medication, then the moment to seek medical help is now.
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