Perhaps some people are afraid of what they will find if they have something like a colonoscopy done; however, other people simply might not know whether the signs they are experiencing mean they need to have their symptoms evaluated. Many people don’t even know what something like a colonoscopy will prove anyway, so they don’t investigate what it might help them figure out about their overall health.
To begin, because many people don’t know what a colonoscopy is and why it is used, an explanation is necessary. A colonoscopy takes about 30 minutes and allows doctors to see inside the colon and rectum. Consequently, doctors are looking for polyps, which are abnormal growths, because they could be cancerous. To search for polyps, a doctor inserts a colonoscope into the colon. The colonoscope is a small tube with a camera on the end of it, which allows the doctor to check for polyps.
Now that you understand better what a colonoscopy is, you might be interested to know what signs indicate that you might need a colonoscopy as soon as possible. Compiled below are the most typical signs that alert someone as to whether they should consider getting a colonoscopy before it is too late. Becoming familiar with these signs might help your doctor detect severe illness before it becomes tragic.
4. Rapid weight loss.
Dropping a few pounds usually isn’t such a bad thing, but when weight loss is rapid and unexplained, it could be a sign of bowel or colon cancer. For example, the Daily Mail reported on a woman who thought her rapid weight loss was due to achieving a healthier lifestyle. However, she came to find out that the reason she was losing weight so quickly was because she had developed bowel cancer.
Often, significant, quick weight loss is associated with cancer, but it is more associated with colon and stomach cancers.