Late diagnosis of bowel cancer has been frequent due to confusion of symptoms with more benign conditions. In an interview with Dr. Kalil, experts warn that the tendency to avoid consultations with proctologists and resort to home diagnoses can mask serious cases of the disease.
One of the main problems identified is that bleeding in the anal region, for example, is often associated with hemorrhoids, which leads many people to not seek adequate medical care.
“Hemorrhoid is the diagnosis that ends up coming from everything that involves bleeding in the proctological region, in the anal canal region, this delays the diagnosis. And sometimes it is cancer”, he warns Sidney Klajner, digestive system surgeon and coloproctologist and president of Einstein Hospital Israelit.
Environmental factors and lifestyle
Bowel cancer is considered an environmental cancer, strongly related to external factors and lifestyle habits. “We know that bowel cancer, although it is completely preventable and there is a hereditary component, is an environmental cancer. It is the result of our contact with carcinogens over a long period of time”, he explains. Sérgio Araújo, director of the surgical network at Einstein Hospital Israelita.
According to Araújo, andAmong the main carcinogens associated with the development of the disease are ultra-processed foods, processed meats and smoked meats, such as sausages, sausages and salami. “Red meat, when roasted at high temperatures for a short time, also generates potentially carcinogenic substances that come into contact with the large intestine”, explains the expert.
Relationship with other diseases
Although bowel cancer can coexist with other conditions such as obesity and diabetes, experts clarify that there is no direct relationship between these diseases. What happens is that they share similar risk factors. “The correlation with other diseases such as obesity and diabetes, or even cardiological diseases, is due to the same exposure. So, the same exposure to overweight, the same exposure to smoking and the same exposure to alcohol consumption”, he explains. Araújo.
These conditions tend to appear together after age 50, but they are not directly related to each other. Alcohol and tobacco consumption are also among the main risks for the development of intestinal cancer, reinforcing the importance of healthy habits in preventing the disease.
