Bowel Cancer FAQs

You can beat this cancer by not being embarrassed to talk about it.
What is bowel cancer?

Bowel cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in the UK (the third most common type in men). There are 40,000 new cases every year. Nine in ten cases are in people over 60. 

You’re also at increased risk if you have a family history of the disease, smoke, drink, have a diet high in fat and low in fibre, are overweight and don’t exercise.

What are the symptoms?

Look out for:

  • Bleeding from your back passage and/or blood in your stools (your crap)
  • A change in bowel habit lasting for 3 weeks or more especially to looser or runny stools
  • Unexplained weight loss
  • Extreme tiredness for no reason
  • A pain or lump in your stomach area. 
Is there screening?

Yes. If you’re aged 60-74, there is a screening programme for bowel cancer. Ask your GP about it. In England there's also a test at 55. See Screening for older men for more information.

Men with bowel cancer:

 

We don't currently post comments online but are always keen to hear your feedback.

This content is wholly based on the Men's Health Forum's The Man Manual which was prepared in line with the NHS England Information Standard of which the MHF is a member. Follow the links for more information or to buy copies.

 

Date published 19/06/15
Date of last review 30/04/15
Date of next review 30/04/18

The Men’s Health Forum need your support

It’s tough for men to ask for help but if you don’t ask when you need it, things generally only get worse. So we’re asking.

In the UK, one man in five dies before the age of 65. If we had health policies and services that better reflected the needs of the whole population, it might not be like that. But it is. Policies and services and indeed men have been like this for a long time and they don’t change overnight just because we want them to.

It’s true that the UK’s men don’t have it bad compared to some other groups. We’re not asking you to ‘feel sorry’ for men or put them first. We’re talking here about something more complicated, something that falls outside the traditional charity fund-raising model of ‘doing something for those less fortunate than ourselves’. That model raises money but it seldom changes much. We’re talking about changing the way we look at the world. There is nothing inevitable about premature male death. Services accessible to all, a population better informed. These would benefit everyone - rich and poor, young and old, male and female - and that’s what we’re campaigning for.

We’re not asking you to look at images of pity, we’re just asking you to look around at the society you live in, at the men you know and at the families with sons, fathers and grandads missing.

Here’s our fund-raising page - please chip in if you can.

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