GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PROBLEM
MANY people feel too embarrassed to talk to their doctor about intestinal problems, but speaking up about the issue could be crucial, a gastroenterologist at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, has said.
Dr Barney Hawthorne said it’s only natural that people don’t like to talk about issues such as bowel problems but said making a doctor aware of problems earlier can help with treatment.
Only around half of those who receive a bowel cancer home test complete the smears, and when it comes to talking openly with medical experts, Dr Hawthorne says men are often less likely than women to admit to the full symptoms.
Intestinal diseases, including Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syn- drome, gut disorders and coeliac disease can even affect young people in their early 20s and teenagers going through GCSE and A-level exams.
“There’s a problem with awareness about gastrointestinal diseases,” Dr Hawthorne explained. “It’s only natural that people don’t like to talk about bowel problems; it can be very embarrassing to talk about symptoms like diarrhoea.
“But one of the problems with bowel cancer is screening.
“People don’t want to give stool samples to look for traces of blood because it’s smelly and embarrassing.
“But presenting to a doctor early makes it much easier to sort out.
“With the positivity of very serious diseases there’s so much we can do these days.”
Dr Hawthorne specialises in inflammatory bowel disease such as colitis and Crohn’s disease and the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board’s Intestinal Failure Team last year won a team of the year award from the British Medical Journal.
He is involved with the charity CORE, which fights diseases of the digestive system and promotes awareness and helps people understand the symptoms.
In a bid to raise funding to allow further research, Dr Hawthorne, along with 30 other medics, will cycle 300 miles from Newcastle to Liverpool for the British Society of Gas- troenterology’s annual science meeting, setting off on the day Wales take on England at Euro 2016.
“It will be challenging but good fun,” he said. “I’ve been training along the Welsh valleys and by now I’ve done them all.
“We will be cycling for four days covering 90 miles per day.
“Raising awareness is so important. Only around 50% of 55 to 75-year-olds who are sent a screening kit at home do the test.
“It’s a chance to look for traces which can be a sign of early cancer.
“Colon cancer has a pre-malignant phase so it’s very important.”