Lesser-known bowel cancer symptom you may experience at night
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Bowel cancer is one of the most common forms of the disease, but it's often known as a "silent killer" as obvious symptoms don't tend to present themselves in its early stages. However early detection is crucial, as the quicker the cancer is detected, the greater chance of survival.
Cancer Research UK indicates that bowel cancer accounts for 16,808 deaths annually, with roughly 44,100 new cases diagnosed each year – around 120 each day. This week the NHS has started to issue at-home bowel cancer testing kits, in a drive to detect more cases.
The scheme expansion will send test kits to hundreds of thousands more individuals, now including people aged 50 in England. An NHS spokesperson said: "The kit, known as the faecal immunochemical test (FIT), checks for blood in a small stool sample, which can be a sign of bowel cancer... Results are sent back to participants, along with information about further tests, if needed.".
Spotting bowel cancer promptly significantly betters the prospect of successful treatment. Common symptoms to watch for include blood in stools or rectal bleeding, bowel habit alterations such as constipation or diarrhoea, unaccountable weight loss, severe fatigue, and pain or a mass in the abdomen.
However, there's one less common symptom that can occur while you're in bed: Night sweats could be a sign of advanced bowel cancer, particularly if they occur alongside other symptoms like unexplained weight loss, fatigue, abdominal pain, or blood in the stool, which could suggest the cancer is at an advanced stage.
