When Farting Isn’t Funny: The Hidden Signs of Rectal Cancer You Shouldn’t Ignore

Old James is 62 years old, and has lived happily every day since his retirement, eating and drinking well, and gaining a lot of weight.

In recent months, he has been farting frequently, and his wife couldn’t bear it for several months, so she asked her son to give him a gastrointestinal specialty number.

After going to the hospital for a colonoscopy, he was diagnosed with rectal cancer, and the course of the disease had advanced to an advanced stage. It was hard for him to accept, he didn’t have any symptoms of discomfort, he didn’t have blood in his stool, he just farted more often, is this a sign of bowel cancer?

I. Is farting detoxifying?

There are two main sources of farts. One is the air inhaled during meals and conversations. Part of these gases will be excreted through hiccups, and part of them will be converted into farts. The other is the gas released when the intestines peristalsis and decompose food, such as ingestion. A large amount of potatoes, sweet potatoes and other indigestible foods are easily produced when the intestines decompose, which increases the number of farts.

Farting is one of the normal physiological activities in which the gut operates, and there is no direct correlation between detoxification.

There are about 400 kinds of ingredients in a fart, including hydrogen, methane, carbon dioxide, oxygen, etc. A normal person will fart about 14 times a day, expelling about 500 ml of gas.

“Fart as often as usual” Mostly diet-related , such as ingesting a large amount of fiber, starch, protein, irritating food and other foods with large gas production, or talking to others during the meal or eating too fast are prone to ingesting a large amount of air, resulting in increased farting.

After excluding dietary factors, if you still fart a lot, you should be alert that it may be caused by disease factors. Such as “chronic atrophic gastritis, gastric ulcer, and abnormal liver, gallbladder, and pancreas function leading to indigestion and causing heavy farting”.

It should be noted that if you do not fart for a long time on a daily basis, you also need to pay attention.

Not farting for a long time may cause abdominal distension, which is mostly related to gastrointestinal blockage, motility disorders, or intestinal adhesions, intestinal torsion, and intestinal obstruction caused by intestinal tumors. Suffering from these diseases can lead to a narrow and blocked bowel cavity, and the accumulation of large amounts of gas in it can cause symptoms such as vomiting and abdominal distension.

2. Is there really a direct connection between farting and bowel cancer?

Don’t worry too much about the increase in daily farts. There is currently no research to confirm that the two can be equated.

However, it is undeniable that when lesions occur in the intestines, they will affect the digestion and absorption of food, which will indeed increase the number of farts, and the smell of farts is still unpleasant. Especially the following farts, be sure to pay more attention to them.

1. Fishy fart

“The fart has the fishy smell of smelly fish and rotten shrimps” Especially people who have bloody, tarry bowel movements , the need for high vigilance is caused by gastrointestinal bleeding and malignant tumors of the digestive tract. Because the blood itself has a bloody smell, the smell will become more unpleasant after the intestinal bacteria decompose, and the stool morphology will also change.

2. Rotten egg-smelling farts

Farts that smell like rotten eggs are mostly a sign of indigestion and bowel cancer. This taste is emitted by amines, which is caused by the lack of timely digestion with proteins and fats Imbalance of gut flora Related. When suffering from bowel cancer, the tumor tissue will also produce odor after necrosis, and the body will have symptoms such as abdominal pain and constipation.

3. Stomachache when farting

It is accompanied by symptoms of abdominal pain when farting, which may be caused by the appearance of tumors in the intestines Intestinal obstruction Relatedly, it is important to seek medical attention promptly after the onset of this symptom, otherwise it may cause further necrosis of intestinal tissue.

4. I want to let go but can’t

I often feel bloated and want to fart, but I can’t let it out. This is most likely associated with impaired gastrointestinal health, due to Slowing of gastrointestinal motility Caused by the inability of the gas to be excreted normally, it may evolve into intestinal cancer over time.

3. “Intestinal cancer = lazy cancer”, most of them are dragged out!

In recent years, the incidence of digestive tract tumors in our country has been increasing, especially Age >40 years Middle-aged and elderly people must pay more attention. Yan Zhixue, the nurse in charge of the general surgery anorectal department of the Hebei Provincial Geriatric Hospital He said that if you find these symptoms on your body on a daily basis, you must seek medical attention promptly.

1. Diarrhea/constipation

Normally, one excretion of morphologically normal stool should be performed once a day. Such as “If you suddenly have every bowel movement” Times>3 , and Feces disformed , Duration over 3 months , possibly related to bowel cancer.

In addition to diarrhea, long-term poor bowel movements, such as once every 2 to 3 days and once a week, may be associated with inflammation in the intestine and disordered intestinal flora.

2. Blood in the stool

Blood in the stool is one of the more common symptoms of bowel cancer. Many people confuse it with hemorrhoids. In fact, the two are very different.

Blood in the stool caused by hemorrhoids will generally appear after defecation, in the form of drops and jets, and bright red in color; while blood in the stool caused by intestinal cancer will adhere to the inside of the stool and be accompanied by abnormal defecation symptoms such as changes in stool characteristics and tenesmus.

3. Abdominal mass

About 48~80% “Intestinal cancer patients have abdominal mass symptoms, and the mass feels good” Hard texture, irregular traits, and variable size . There are also some patients whose lumps are movable, in short, abnormal masses can be felt in the abdomen, so be sure to seek medical attention promptly.

4. The stool becomes thinner

Abnormal lesions appear in the intestinal lumen, and the stool is squeezed as it passes, causing it to thin. The stenosis of the intestinal lumen becomes more and more severe in the later stages, and the stool becomes finer and finer, and even makes it difficult to defecate.

In recent years, the incidence of bowel cancer in my country has been increasing year by year, and it is becoming younger and younger. According to data released by the National Cancer Center, bowel cancer incidence has jumped to the second place in cancer incidence, with approximately 500,000 new deaths and 200,000 deaths every year.

Because the early symptoms of bowel cancer are not obvious, it is easy for people to ignore or mistake it for other problems. As the course of the disease progresses, symptoms such as abdominal pain, changes in bowel habits, and weight loss will gradually appear.

In fact, bowel cancer develops much more slowly than other cancers. Many people do not go to the doctor for several years after the symptoms appear, and wait until the symptoms are unbearable before going to the doctor. At this time, it is probably too late.

The 5-year survival rate for early-stage colorectal cancer is as high as 90%, and only 14% for late-stage cancer , through the data, we can intuitively feel the importance of early detection and early treatment. And Chinese residents generally lack awareness of early screening for bowel cancer 97% of patients had not had a colonoscopy before diagnosis.

A 17-year study of 170,000 subjects in The Lancet magazine showed that Colonoscopy can reduce the incidence of colon cancer by 35% and allow 41% of patients to recover.

Expert advice, Everyone needs to have a colonoscopy before the age of 40, or even before the age of 35, which is of great importance for the prevention of colorectal cancer.

Too many farts cannot be equated with bowel cancer and may be related to dietary factors. However, after excluding dietary factors, if you still fart frequently, it is recommended to seek medical attention promptly. This may be due to problems with intestinal function.

Disclaimer: All photos used in this blog are generated by artificial intelligence (AI). These images are original creations produced by AI technology and do not depict real people, places, or events. They are provided for illustrative purposes only and cannot be claimed or used as real photographs.