Is Colon Cancer Always Diagnosed at an Advanced Stage? These 3 Changes in Stool Indicate the Last Desperate Plea from the Intestines!
HiherbsOfficial
What if your trip to the toilet suddenly changes dramatically?
For instance, you might go from going once every three days to three times a day.
Or perhaps your bowel habits become incredibly erratic: one day you feel like you had the best movement ever, and the next you're stuck in the stall unable to go.
You might even feel unfinished after leaving, with a nagging ache in your abdomen, constantly feeling the urge to go back and try again.
If this sounds familiar, your large intestine could be under serious stress!
The Large Intestine family has five key parts: the Cecum, Appendix, Colon, Rectum, and Anal Canal. Despite being a large team, they are surprisingly fragile.
1. The Pain of the Large Intestine
Think about all the delicious things we eat: bubble tea, burgers, hot pot, rice...
The unfortunate reality is that the large intestine doesn't get to enjoy any of these flavors. Food travels through the esophagus, stomach, and small intestine on a "digestion and absorption assembly line."
By the time it reaches the large intestine, the nutrients have been stripped away, and all that's left is residue.
The large intestine functions as the body's "waste processing station": recycling what's useful (like water) and pushing out the rest.
When this "waste recycling center" is operating smoothly, we don't even notice it. But the moment you become aware of its existence due to discomfort or unusual symptoms—it's likely sick. Two common diseases include Ulcerative Colitis and Colorectal Cancer.
2. Ulcerative Colitis: A Chronic Burden
Ulcerative Colitis (UC) is a chronic, lifelong disease.
Once diagnosed, it becomes a daily mental checklist: "Did I take my medicine today?"
This condition is most common in young adults aged 20 to 40. About 90% of patients experience a cycle of relapse, remission, and re-relapse.
During a relapse, patients once again suffer from diarrhea, abdominal pain, and stools containing mucus and blood. In severe cases, people may need to rush to the bathroom more than ten times a day, and even face serious complications:
The exact cause of Ulcerative Colitis is still unknown.
Currently, it's considered an autoimmune disease.
Essentially, your immune system turns against itself. Instead of fighting external threats, the "immune army" mistakenly attacks your own colon tissue.
Therefore, the goal of treatment isn't a cure, but controlling the symptoms and preventing severe complications—like "sealing" an unkillable monster in a deep-sea prison from a myth.
Most UC patients can achieve good control with medication. However, about 15% still require surgery to remove part or all of the colon and/or rectum. Post-surgery, normal bowel movements may be affected.
The scariest part? Ulcerative Colitis is a chronic inflammatory condition that causes repeated cell overgrowth, increasing the risk of malignant transformation.
Patients who have lived with the disease for over 20 years have a 10 to 15 times higher risk of developing Colorectal Cancer than the general population. It's truly cruel: one devastating disease can make you vulnerable to an even worse one.
3. Colorectal Cancer: Constantly in the Spotlight
Colorectal Cancer (CRC) often starts as small, abnormal growths, called intestinal polyps, within the lining of the colon.
These polyps might be tiny and often cause no symptoms. Most are benign and not life-threatening.
However, a subset of these cells can undergo continuous mutation and turn into wildly growing cancer cells.
Like many cancers, early-stage Colorectal Cancer usually has zero symptoms. Without a screening exam, it goes undetected. By the time symptoms appear, it is often already in the **mid-to-late stages**.
Once diagnosed with advanced Colorectal Cancer, the opportunity for a curative surgery may be lost. The global average 5-year survival rate for this stage is roughly 40%–78%.
Fortunately, current treatments—including surgery, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy—have significantly improved the average overall survival time for late-stage patients to about 3 years.
There’s a common saying in oncology: "All tumors are long-planned."
The process, from the formation of a polyp to its development into a malignant tumor, takes an average of 10 years.
An unhealthy lifestyle can accelerate this timeline, while a healthy, proactive lifestyle can significantly delay it.
4. Your Action Plan
Some people eat rich, fatty meals every day: BBQ, hot pot, cake, and soda.
Others sit all day long, lacking exercise, which slows down gastrointestinal motility.
Still others live with constant mental strain, stuck in long-term states of depression, anxiety, or low mood.
Taking Colorectal Cancer as an example:
A healthy lifestyle—including quitting smoking, eating a healthy diet, and getting regular exercise—can significantly lower your risk of developing CRC.
Intestinal polyps and early-stage Colorectal Cancer can be detected through specific methods. High-risk individuals who undergo regular Colonoscopy Screening can catch the tumor at its earliest stage or while it is still a polyp.
The earlier it's found, the better the treatment outcome.
If you experience any of the following:
- A sudden change in bowel frequency.
- A sudden change in stool shape.
- The sudden appearance of blood or mucus in your stool.
Combined with diarrhea, constipation, bloating, abdominal pain, and unexplained loss of appetite and weight...
These might be warning signs of a large bowel lesion. While it may not be cancer, it is a phenomenon that demands immediate attention.
Steering clear of an unhealthy lifestyle is the first, most crucial step in preventing disease.
