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Don't die of embarrassment
29 January 2004
Feeling too embarrassed to talk about your bottom and bowel habits could prove fatal warns Bupa. The health and care company believes that encouraging people to look for and talk about their symptoms could save many lives.
Bowel cancer is the UK’s second biggest cancer killer after lung cancer. One in 18 people will develop the disease at some point in their lives and 46 people a day will die from it. If bowel cancer is detected in good time there is every chance of it being treated and cured.
Bupa’s Dr Annabel Bentley said: "It's common to feel awkward or embarrassed when talking about your bowels but medical research shows that if caught early, chances for successful treatment are much higher. The message to everyone is - don’t die of embarrassment. The first thing you should do is go and see your GP, especially if you notice blood in your stools. It could save your life."
To help people understand more about the disease and its symptoms, Bupa and the charity Beating Bowel Cancer have produced a new easy to understand booklet called 'Lifting the lid on bowel cancer'. Copies are available free from www.bupa.co.uk/loudtie or by calling 020 8892 5256.
The two main symptoms to look out for are a persistent change in bowel habits and bleeding from the bottom, but most of the time they won’t be caused by cancer. Looking for blood before you flush is an easy way to detect symptoms.
Dr Bentley continued: "If you are diagnosed with cancer, treatment can be quite complex. Being treated by a team of experts who have had specialist training and work in a unit dedicated to cancer care gives patients the best chance of survival. This is why Bupa Insurance has set up a national network of 101 approved bowel cancer hospitals and each year spends more than £12m on bowel cancer treatment for its members."
Susan Baker, a bowel cancer survivor, talked about her own experience: "The first I knew anything was wrong was when I experienced two incidents of bleeding from my bottom. I realised that something just wasn’t right for me, so I made an appointment with my GP. When I received the cancer diagnosis it was like a death sentence and I was devastated. Luckily the cancer was caught early and has been treated successfully, and I would strongly urge people not to sit on their symptoms but get anything worrying checked out"
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