This post is the fourth parts of my post series explaining about the colon cancer symptoms. Yesterday we’ve discussed about the diarrhea as a symptom of colon cancer, and now we are moving forward to the next symptom: blood in stools.

In medical term, a condition where there’s blood in stools is called hematochezia. It is understandable when people simply ignore the blood, but it would be best for you to consult to your doctor about it, since there’s a possibility that it is one of the colon cancer symptoms. Generally, blood in the stool means that there is bleeding somewhere in the large intestine. The blood in your stool can be bright or dark red or simply dark colored. The color of the blood can determine the location of the disease. The darker the blood, the higher the position of the bleeding up in the colon

You might want to read the main article about the colon cancer symptoms and signs to find out more about this.

But don’t get freak out just yet. There are other things besides colon cancer that could cause the blood in stools (hematochezia). As I said earlier, in common cases the blood in stools might be a symptom to a disease that is less serious than the colon cancer. Either way, you should see your doctor to get diagnosed.

In most cases of colon cancer, the sooner you are diagnosed, the higher survival rates. According to some studies, the survival rate for people who are diagnosed in the earliest stages is 90% . Unfortunately, if you are late in getting the diagnose, the colon cancer could be more advanced and could spread beyond the colon

Causes of Blood in Stools

In common cases, hematochezia is caused by diverticulitis and hemorrhoids. Other causes includes:

• lack of blood flow to the intestines, resulting in bowel ischemia
• intestinal infections (bacterial enterocolitis) that can be caused by foodborne pathogens, such as salmonella and E. coli
• inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis)
• use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin and ibuprofen
• recent trauma; for example, blood in the stools can occur after colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy examination (only lasts a day or two; is not serious)
• non-cancerous growths, such as polyps
• colon cancer

Interestingly, there are some things that can caused our stools’ color darker, making some people think they have blood on their stool. If you are currently consuming iron supplements or blue/red/purple/black foods such as beets, blackberries, and blueberries, your stool might get darker.

Remember, if there is a presence of blood in your stool, you should see your doctor. It is highly recommended if you are also having a change in the bowel movements such as constipation or diarrhea. It might be a colon cancer symptoms, it might be other easily curable disease. Either way, the faster we find what symptoms the bloody stools is, the better.

Several screening tests that can be done to confirm whether the presence of blood in stool is a colon cancer symptoms or not can be seen in the main article on Colon Cancer Screening Test

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