Home use tests are a useful element in your proactive healthcare regime but are not intended to replace a consultation with your General Practitioner or other suitably qualified healthcare provider. If you have any concerns regarding your health always consult your Doctor.

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Bowel cancer symptoms

The symptoms of bowel cancer vary from person to person but can include :

• Bleeding from the back passage (rectum) or blood in your stools
• A lasting change in normal bowel habits towards diarrhoea or looser stools
• A lump in the right side of your abdomen, or in your rectum
• A straining feeling in the rectum
• Losing weight
• Pain in your abdomen or rectum
• Anaemia (a low level of red blood cells), caused by the tumour bleeding. This can lead to tiredness and sometimes breathlessness.

Bowel cancer may cause a blockage (a obstruction in the bowel). The symptoms of this are felt as griping pains in the abdomen, feeling bloated,constipation, and being sick.

See your Doctor

All these symptoms can be caused by other conditions or diseases. These include piles (haemorrhoids), infections or inflammatory bowel disease. If you are worried about any symptoms you should see your GP. It is the combination of symptoms and your age that is important and will alert your doctor to the possibility of bowel cancer.