This Popular Medication Can Reduce Your Risk Of Developing Bowel Cancer

Health agencies and organizations in the UK reveal that bowel cancer is one of the most diagnosed in the country. They also disclosed that this cancer type is often more prevalent in the elderly, particularly those who are 60 years and above.

What is Bowel Cancer?

Bowel cancer is actually a general term used by medical professionals to describe the type of cancer that starts in the large bowel or colon. In some instances, it may also start to develop in the back passage or rectum.

It is also known as colorectal cancer and usually begins when abnormal cells divide and grow in an unrestrained manner. The cancer cells then grow into surrounding organs or tissues, and may also spread to other vital body parts or organs like your lungs or liver.

What are the Symptoms of Bowel Cancer?

Symptoms of this deadly ailment include a change in your bowel routine, bleeding in the back passage or presence of blood in the bowel, and lump or pain in the stomach. Other symptoms include unexplained weight loss and the feeling of fatigue or extreme tiredness without any obvious reason.

Other patients also report the feeling of having a bloated stomach and feeling or being sick. In the case of bowel cancer, it may be caused by a tumor blocking the bowel, causing these symptoms to be felt by the patient. In this situation, you may find it hard to pass wind or empty your bowel.

What Can You Do?

If you have these symptoms, you should schedule a visit to your doctor right away. While these symptoms can be attributed to other ailments, it is better to undergo an examination to make sure. Besides, the success of any treatment plan would always depend on how early you discovered cancer.

There is also some good news as, according to a new study, taking aspirin once a day could help prevent bowel cancer. Researchers have conducted experiments on mice, and they found that a common painkiller like aspirin can stop tumors from growing or recurring.

While scientists admit that they are still in the testing phase, the results are very promising. They are in the process of identifying the exact dose and are hoping to achieve the same positive results in humans.

Researchers believe this popular drug holds the secret to both preventing the development of the disease and curing it in case it does develop. At present, scientists involved in the study are calling aspirin as a wonder drug.

According to the senior author of the study, Professor Ajay Goel, aspirin is considered by many sectors as a miracle drug because of its capability to prevent many diseases. Some of such diseases resulted from chronic inflammation like cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer's, and arthritis.

Professor Goel, who is also an oncologist at City of Hope Hospital in Duarte, California, revealed that there are reasons aspirin is not currently being used to prevent these diseases. One of these reasons is that taking too much aspirin can cause the thinning of the mucus lining of the stomach and cause gastrointestinal issues and other problems.

The professor, however, said they are getting close to finding out the exact amount of daily aspirin required to treat and prevent the development of colorectal cancer.