Coping with Bowel Cancer

Description

Bowel cancer is one of the commonest forms of cancer and, after lung cancer, the biggest killer — yet one that can have a good outcome if caught early. The last ten years have seen huge strides in medical knowledge of bowel cancer, with improved chances of survival after diagnosis.

Coping with Bowel Cancer looks at screening, symptoms, treatment, changes to lifestyle, and at the drugs and surgery of the future. Dr Smith offers hope and sound advice to people who know that they have bowel cancer, for those caring for others with the disease, and for those who have a high risk of developing it.

Contents

• Introduction
• Colorectal cancer — who gets it?
• Current thoughts on preventing bowel cancer — the aspirin Link
• Your feelings and what you can do to help yourself
• The normal bowel
• Constipation and diarrhoea
• Some case histories
• How doctors diagnose bowel cancer
• Irritable bowel, coeliac disease and diverticular disease
• Treating colorectal cancer — aiming for cure
• Genetic background to bowel cancer
• Researching bowel cancer
• When you have advanced bowel cancer
• Some special cases — the older and the younger patient
• The future — new targets for treatment

About the author

Dr Tom Smith has been writing full time since 1977, after spending six years in general practice and seven years in medical research. He writes regularly for medical journals and magazines and has a weekly column in the Bradford Telegraph and Argus. He also broadcasts regularly for BBC Radio Scotland. His other books for Sheldon Press include Heart Attacks: Prevent and Survive, Coping Successfully with Prostate Cancer and Overcoming Back Pain.