How can you tell when something is wrong? Pay attention to the symptoms coming from your body.
Play it smart when you notice something that could be a serious health problem, like cancer. Talk to your doctor and get checked out. In general, the disease is easier to treat if it is detected early.
Signs of cancer in both men and women
Loss of appetite. Many conditions, from depression to the flu, can cause you to feel less hungry. Cancer does this by changing the way your body metabolizes food into energy.
Cancers of the stomach, pancreas, colon, and ovaries can put pressure on your stomach and make you feel overwhelmed when you eat.
Blood in the stool. Cancer can bleed, but so can bleeding from many other things, including wounds, hemorrhoids, infections, and wounds. When your stool looks red, the blood is usually somewhere in the gastrointestinal tract, which means the esophagus, stomach, and intestines.
One way to tell where the blood is coming from is how light or dark it looks. Bright red could mean bleeding in your rectum or at the end of your bowel. A dark color could mean something up there, like a stomach ulcer (dark stools due to exposure to stomach acid).
Regardless of the cause, blood in the stool should be checked. A colonoscopy or other tests may be needed to diagnose the problem.
Blood in the urine. When it appears in the urine, blood can be a warning sign of a urinary tract problem. Kidney or bladder cancer can cause this symptom, but it can also be due to infection, kidney stones, or kidney disease.
The cough does not go away. Colds and the flu can make you tear up, but they’re also signs of lung cancer, along with red flags like chest pain, weight loss, hoarseness, fatigue, and shortness of breath. If you can’t shake it, see your doctor, especially if you smoke.
Too tired. It is one of the most common symptoms of cancer. We’re not talking about the usual kind of fatigue here – it’s the kind of fatigue that doesn’t go away. If changing your activity level or getting more sleep doesn’t help, see your doctor.
The fever does not go away. A rise in your temperature is usually a sign of an infection. But some cancers, such as lymphoma, leukemia, kidney and liver cancer, can cause it.
Cancer fever usually rises and falls during the day, sometimes peaking at the same time. If you have a temperature above 100.5 degrees F that lasts for more than a few days, see your doctor.
A lump in the neck. It can be an infection, but it is an early warning sign of thyroid cancer.
Cancer is usually painless. If yours doesn’t go away or doesn’t grow, see your doctor.
Night sweats. In middle-aged women, it can be a sign of menopause, but it can also be a sign of cancer or infection.
Skin changes. The main symptom of skin cancer is a sore that starts to grow or does not heal. See a dermatologist in the following cases:
Becomes larger or thicker
Changes the color
With a strangely shaped frame
Bigger than a pencil eraser
In addition, crusts and scales remain and do not heal
Swollen lymph nodes. A lump on the side of the neck may be caused by strep throat or another infection. Cancers such as lymphoma or leukemia can cause the lymph nodes to swell.
Breast cancer that has spread can cause swelling in the lymph nodes under the arm. If the swelling does not go away within a week, see your doctor.
Problems with swallowing. A feeling of a lump in the throat is a common symptom of heartburn. Difficulty swallowing is a sign of esophageal cancer. If the sensation persists or worsens, see a doctor.
Lose weight without training. 2 out of 5 people diagnosed with cancer have lost weight. There is no specific reason. Try unexplained weight loss.
Symptoms of cancer in men
Blood in urine or semen. A pink, brown, or red color in your urine or semen is usually nothing to worry about. Infections, kidney stones, trauma, and noncancerous growths in the prostate can cause bleeding.
In most cases, bladder and prostate cancer are to blame. Your doctor may do a urinalysis and other tests to find the source of the blood.
Lump in the testicles. Absence of pain is a symptom of testicular cancer. However, the lump can be an injury, fluid retention, or hernia. It is difficult to distinguish the cause from the symptoms alone, so go to the doctor for a check-up.
Pain during ejaculation or urination. If you experience pain when you urinate or have sex, your prostate or urethra may be infected or swollen. These symptoms may be caused by prostate cancer. If the pain does not go away, see a doctor.