Today I am going to reveal to you the most important signs and symptoms that indicate cancer. In this talk you will see that these signs and symptoms are very common and very frequent and many people decide to ignore them. That's why I'm going to teach you what they are and how to differentiate them from less serious things.
We are going to talk about cough, skin spots, difficulty swallowing, changes in bowel habits, diarrhea and constipation. When should we worry? Did you know that one in six people who die in the world do so from cancer?
And I want you to remember something. Cancer detected early can be treated and cured. That's why this talk is so important.
I recommend you stay until the end, because the last tip for me is the most important. Let's get started. First symptom.
Remember this phrase. It is not normal for your intestine to change its rhythm for no reason and for a long time. If you are an older adult, but also a young patient and suddenly you start with diarrhea or constipation and it lasts for a long time.
I'm mainly talking about more than three weeks. We should worry and consult the doctor. Of course you can have diarrhea due to poisoning, you can have an infection, but it is not common for it to start suddenly and last for a long time.
Pay attention to these five symptoms of your intestine. Number one. If the diarrhea or sudden constipation lasts more than three weeks and you do not have a reason that can explain it such as an infection, having recently had surgery, or having changed your diet, then consult.
Number two. Change in the shape of stool. Do you know that fecal matter is rounded or in small balls?
But if it is shaped like a ribbon like this one I have here, flattened and if you also have trouble moving around, then you could be in the presence of some type of cancer. Number three. If after going to the body you continue to feel the urge to shiver, your rectum feels full and you cannot continue or it is difficult for you, then it could be something more serious.
Number four. Blood in the stool. If you notice small droplets of blood in black stool or when you flush the toilet, the toilet turns red.
It's time to consult. And number five. Pain, swelling, or changes in the abdomen.
At the very least, they should have you consulted, especially if you have any of the other intestinal signs or symptoms that I mention. My advice is very simple. See your doctor if you see any of these, but I want to give you one more.
If you are 45 or 50 years old, your doctor will almost certainly recommend having a colonoscopy. I know that many of you are afraid of this procedure, but this procedure can save lives because in addition to seeing lesions in the colon, you can remove them early and do a biopsy to study them. And this detected in time saves lives.
Get a colonoscopy if your doctor has recommended it. Second symptom. You have spots on your skin, moles that worry you, wounds that don't heal.
It's time to consult the doctor. Of course, you shouldn't worry about any mole. When you have a mole you should do A, B, C, D, E.
And I am going to teach you how to differentiate a good mole from a bad one. Look at this one I have here. This is a good mole.
Because? Because A, B, C, D, E is good for you. Pay attention.
A means asymmetrical. Bad moles, when you see the two halves, are not rounded and symmetrical, they are different in their halves, that is, asymmetrical. You see bad moles have irregular edges, that is, they are not rounded, but rather star-shaped, deformed, with strange shapes, as if it were a map.
C. Bad moles have various colors, they are brown, black, white and red. They are all dyed.
On the other hand, good moles are only light brown or dark brown in color. The D means diameter. Normally a good mole is less than 6 millimeters and a bad one is more than 6 millimeters.
And the E stands for elevation. Moles in general are not overly elevated. If your mole is overly elevated, it is a characteristic that that mole could become bad.
Now imagine that you have an irregular or slightly raised mole and so on. It is not enough to say that this is cancer. The combination of several Of these elements that I recommend that you write down are important to detect.
What you have to do is if you have a mole with these irregular characteristics, of various colors, raised, asymmetrical and so on, consult your dermatologist. It may be a good idea for him to see if it's really necessary and maybe remove it, especially if these moles appeared suddenly and started growing rapidly. I also want you to be careful with small tumors that look like a small volcano, as if it were a volcano about to erupt, which appears on the cheeks, in the ears, on the back of the hand, that is, where the sun hits .
A type of cancer called squamous cell cancer can appear in these areas. It is a type of cancer that is, as I explained to you, and that has a white color that has not become pearly. It is very important that you know this.
And another thing, skin cancer can appear even in places where the sun does not hit us. For example, melanoma can be on the toenail, on the soles of the feet, on the hands, anywhere. That is why it is very important to check your body and consult if you have the slightest doubt.
Third symptom. Have you noticed that you are tired without any sense. You have slept well, you do not have any health problems and you are still tired.
This may be due to cancer or even anemia or other diseases. And I'm not talking about the tiredness that occurs after a strenuous day at work or during a difficult time of year or after you get fashionable or if you just had a child and of course, you don't sleep well. I'm talking about a fatigue with these characteristics.
It lasts for weeks and months and even when you rest it doesn't get better. There is no explanation for that fatigue. I mean, it's not your job, you're sleeping well, you're eating well, you're training.
Number 3 If other symptoms appear with fatigue, these moles that I told you about, changes in habits, fever or other symptoms that may worry you. Marked tiredness for no apparent reason may be or may be indicating a hidden cancer in your body and almost any type of cancer causes fatigue. That is why it is essential that you consult your doctor.
Symptom number 4 hoarse cough. Cough is a very common symptom of allergies and upper respiratory infections. In general, we are not concerned when it does concern us, when it lasts a long time, especially when it lasts more than three weeks.
And cough can be of different forms. It can be a dry cough without a cold, it can be a cough with a cold, it can be a cough with blood and it may or may not be accompanied by shortness of breath or other symptoms. It is very important that you know that persistent cough, which has no other cause, may be revealing lung cancer, especially if you are a smoker.
Therefore, if it is a typical symptom for you, you should consult to see if it is cancer or another type of disease. The Epoch, for example, makes you cough a lot. I want to make something clear.
Most of the time cough is not a symptom of cancer, but of another type of pathology. But if the cough persists, you have to consult. Fifth symptom.
Difficulty swallowing. Many people feel that food gets stuck on top of them when they eat or drink and some cannot even swallow because the food ends up coming back. This is a typical symptom of esophageal cancer.
Of course, if it happens to you once in a while, if you get stuck, if it happens with some foods and not with others, you probably have nothing. But if this happens to you repeatedly over time, you cannot swallow. You feel that the food is left over, you have reflux all the time from some of the food.
Then it is time for you to consult the doctor because this symptom is called dysphagia and is very typical of esophageal cancer. Other typical symptoms are pain when swallowing, a feeling that food is blocked, food returns or you suddenly lose weight without looking for it. And here I want to give you some extra advice.
Heartburn and acid reflux damage the lower part of the esophagus, slowly burning it and forcing its cells to multiply and regenerate all the time. These cells in multiplication and regeneration can make a mistake and can develop cancer. If you have acid reflux, heartburn, a hiatus hernia, I recommend that you consult your gastroenterologist and resolve the problem, because if you don't solve it you are more predisposed to having esophageal cancer.
Acid reflux causes Barrett's esophagus and Barrett's esophagus predisposes to cancer. Number 6 Unexpected bleeding. You go to the bathroom, you have fecal bleeding, you go to the bathroom, you urinate blood, you cough up blood, your gums bleed.
These are all symptoms that can indicate another pathology, an ulcer, for example, a lack of vitamins, but they can also indicate cancer. So it is very important that you consult with symptoms of bleeding, because many times it can be something serious. Don't let it go.
Now there are some bleedings, for example, nosebleeds or throat bleeding. After I coughed a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot and I have a little bit of blood, we can worry less. However, if it happens very frequently, my advice consults.
Let's go to the last two. Remember that the eighth is the most important. Number 7 Weight loss.
Let's assume that you are not on any diet. Let's say your activities continue as usual, you're eating as usual, and you suddenly lose weight. Your clothes are starting to outgrow you.
It could be a symptom that you have a serious illness. Losing weight without looking for it and without changing habits should catch our attention. There is something in our body that is consuming a lot of energy or it could be that we lack hunger due to some pathology.
For example, in cancer it is typical that cancer patients are not hungry and food is bad for them. And now we go to the eighth thing that will surprise you and that is feeling good. And this may catch your attention and may seem funny.
Why do I say this? Patients who have cancer at the beginning of the first weeks, the first months do not feel anything. Cancer is very small, it is just a group of cells dividing.
So just because you feel good doesn't ensure that you don't have cancer and I'm not wanting you to worry. I want to give you some very useful advice. If you feel well, go for medical checkups.
What type of checks? From 45 to 50, when your doctor orders a colonoscopy. If you are a woman, a PAP or a mammogram.
If you are a man, the corresponding prostate study when your doctor indicates it. If you have a history of cancer, then consult a doctor to see if you need any extra checkups. Don't miss routine checkups because they are the ones that detect cancer when they are very young.
And if the cancer is small, it can be fought, treated and cured and you can forget about it. The longer you wait or the more symptoms you have, the larger the cancer will be and the more difficult the treatment will be, not impossible, but more difficult. Therefore, when in doubt, always consult.
I hope you found this talk useful and informative. Bye bye.
