6 Warning Signs of Colon Cancer You Should Never Ignore

Why does bowel cancer have a five year survival rate above ninety percent when it's caught early, yet closer to ten percent when it's found late? The honest answer has nothing to do with how aggressive the cancer is and everything to do with how long the symptoms were explained away as diet, stress or simply getting older.

In this video I go through six warning signs in order, from the one that's easiest to dismiss to the one that genuinely needs an ambulance. Each sign comes with a plain explanation of what's actually happening inside the bowel and exactly what to do about it, whether that's a routine GP visit, an appointment within the week, or a straight trip to A&E.

Some of these signs won't involve the toilet at all, and that catches a lot of people out. Low iron, unexplained tiredness and weight loss that nobody can account for are just as much a warning as blood or a change in bowel habit, and I wanted to lay out the reasoning behind each one so it's easier to spot in yourself or someone you care about, rather than just handing you a checklist.