Sorry to get deep lads, but your health should always be one of your absolute priorities in life.

And while it’s not always necessarily under your control, there are things you can do to keep healthy, where you can and keep track of how you’re doing.

Keeping an eye out for certain symptoms, sleeping positions, and doing little self-checks can help you spot the warning signs of any underlying conditions.

So, a doctor has revealed the check you can do that shows when any bleeding on the toilet is serious.

This comes as cases of colon cancer (often known as bowel cancer) in those under 50 is on the rise.

NHS surgeon Dr Karan Rajan is one of the biggest health and science creators on social media and shared medical advice on TikTok.

In one TikTok, he reacts to a video from ‘Colon Cancer Amigo’ to explain the difference ‘between bleeding from colon cancer versus haemorrhoids’.

Showing an image of the content creator’s demonstration of food colouring in the toilet bowl, the doctor says: “Blood from colon cancer is often dark red and maybe even black and tarry because it comes from higher up in the digestive tract, giving it more time to oxidise and darken.”

He then shows the users image of loo roll with a couple of tiny red dots, created by a marker pen.

“Bleeding from haemorrhoid is typically bright red,” Dr Rajan says, “because these come from swollen veins near the anus or rectum.”

It could be the sign of different things. (Getty Stock)

The doctor also explains that you can spot a sign of colon cancer because the blood may also mixed into poo, ‘giving the stool a darker or streaked appearance’.

“Whereas haemorrhoid blood usually appears on the toilet paper after wiping, on the surface of the stool or even as drops in the toilet bowl, rather than being mixed into the stool,” he says.

So, he comes up with the comparison that blood from a haemorrhoid is more like a ‘pizza topping’, whereas from colon cancer it’s ‘baked into the dough’.

Dr Rajan also lists some other symptoms of colon cancer, in addition to the bleeding: “Diarrhoea, constipation, abdominal pain, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, etc.”

Whereas haemorrhoids only cause ‘local bum symptoms’ including: “Itching, rectal pain, and maybe even a lump.”

But no matter what, if you’re experiencing persistent rectal bleeding, you should get it checked out.

Earlier this year, figures found bowel cancer (often referred to as colon cancer) was rising in those under the age of 50.

However, Sophia Lowes, at Cancer Research UK, told The Guardian: “It’s important to remember that the overall number of people dying from the disease under 50 is still quite small. Around 5% of UK bowel cancer deaths are in people aged 25 to 49, with most people who die from the disease in the UK being older.”

After a doctor diagnosed herself with a common cancer, let’s look into the full list of symptoms.

Lauren Juyia was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer after discovered two ‘mild’ warning signs. The US-based gynaecologist went for an ultrasound after spotting them which found large masses in her ovary.

It grew rapidly from 8cm to 24cm in just two weeks and she told Good Morning America in 2023: “I had never seen anything benign, meaning not cancer, grow that fast before. So we kind of knew, deep down, that this was not going to be good.”

These masses spread and led to her colon cancer diagnosis.

What is bowel cancer?

According to the NHS, it’s a cancer found anywhere in the large bowel – including the colon and rectum. It’s often also referred to as colon or rectal cancer.

Bowel cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in the UK with almost 44,000 people diagnosed with every year according to Bowel Cancer UK.

What are the symptoms?

The main symptoms of bowel cancer may include:

• changes in your poo, such as having softer poo, diarrhoea or constipation that is not usual for you
• needing to poo more or less often than usual for you
• blood in your poo, which may look red or black
• bleeding from your bottom
• often feeling like you need to poo, even if you’ve just been to the toilet
• tummy pain
• a lump in your tummy
• bloating
• losing weight without trying
• feeling very tired for no reason

People with bowel cancer may also have anaemia which is when you have fewer red blood cells than usual. This can lead to you feeling very tired, short of breath and experiencing headaches.

Blood in your poo is a red flag. (Getty Stock)

Dr Juyia’s symptoms

Differently, she didn’t experience the typical symptoms, such as blood in her stool, but noticed a ‘pelvic heaviness’, which turned into a ‘pelvic mass’.

“Having a background in obstetrics, we describe size by weeks of pregnancy and so I was like, ‘Oh my god, I have a 16-week-size mass.’ From experience, I could tell that this was my ovary,” she said.

And looking back, she said: “I was a little tired in the afternoon for about two months previous to this and as a mum with two little kids – I had been recently nursing them, they were still waking up in the night, I work full time – I didn’t think anything of saying, ‘Oh, I think I need a tea in the afternoon’.

“Whereas maybe someone in their 50s or 60s would be much more tired from stage four tumours taking up their energy.”

The doctor began chemotherapy treatment following her diagnosis and underwent surgery in March 2023.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.

A woman who was diagnosed with bowel cancer now wants you to know the unusual symptoms she experienced.

Ellie Wilcock began noticing that something wasn’t quite right with her body in 2021, and initially waved away her own worries.

Believing it was a urinary tract infection, Wilcock thought that the sharp pains on one side of her abdomen could easily be fixed.

However, it turned out that the young woman was actually experiencing a sneaky symptom of cancer.

According to Bowel Cancer UK, around 44,000 people in the UK each year are diagnosed with the cancer, and almost 17,000 pass away from it.

Even though you might think that it only happens to those who are 50 and over, it’s actually becoming more common for younger people to develop bowel cancer, similar to pancreatic or colon cancer.

The then 25-year-old from Peterborough was ultimately diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer, meaning that it had spread to other areas of the body.

Now, she wants people to know what to look out for.

In a TikTok video, she warned of the four early warning signs that she experienced before she was diagnosed.

She explained that the pain was the first sign, and it surprised her.

She said: “It [the pain] was in my left hand side.

“It was because the tumour was obstructing my large bowel.

“I thought it was more like urinary pain…doctors thought it was a UTI.”

Then, in another video, she shared how doctors believed she was suffering from an ovarian cyst.

Wilcock also experienced other symptoms that are more in line with other people who have bowel cancer.

She shared that she noticed she was constipated, and then would have diarrhoea.

Her cancer was stage four (Tiktok/elliewilcock0)

She said: “For me, it was a constant change between the two but it just wasn’t normal for me.”

Her third symptom was being extremely tired.

“And fatigue. I would come home from work and just want to lie down and go to bed,” she revealed. “I was really tired, I was really fatigued. Even sat at my desk, I was falling asleep I was so tired.”

The last thing that really stood out to her was blood in her stool.

Wilcock said in her clip: “At the time, I didn’t think I had this, but on reflection, I did and just didn’t notice it.

“This could be a range of colours, it could be bright red or a dark red.

“But anything that isn’t normal for you and you’ve noticed consistent blood in your poo then get it checked out.

“It is nothing to be embarrassed about. The sooner you look at it, the sooner you get it out the way.”

She first visited the doctors about her pain in April 2022, and when her test results for a UTI were negative, blood tests found that there was inflammation somewhere in her body.

After having an ultrasound which didn’t find an ovarian cyst, she had to seek emergency help through A & E when the pain got worse.

That’s when a biopsy was conducted, and revealed her awful diagnosis.

They concluded that it had spread to her liver, ovaries, and the peritoneum, which is the membrane that holds the organs in the abdomen.

Wilcock had to have multiple surgeries to remove her cancer as well as chemotherapy.

In August 2022, it was confirmed that she no longer had cancer.

A doctor who diagnosed herself with stage four colon cancer has shared the two ‘mild’ symptoms she discovered.

US-based gynaecologist Lauren Juyia was diagnosed in August 2022 when she started to notice a couple of changes to her body.

Aged 37 at the time, the doctor went to HCA Florida Oak Hill Hospital to undergo an ultrasound, which revealed large masses in her ovary.

A mass is a lump in the body, and although it doesn’t always mean cancer, the quicker it grows, the more worrying it can be.

Just two weeks later, Dr Juyia’s mass had grown from 8cm to 24cm.

“I had never seen anything benign, meaning not cancer, grow that fast before,”she told Good Morning America in 2023.

“So we kind of knew, deep down, that this was not going to be good.

“And we suspected ovarian cancer of course, because it was the ovaries being the masses.”

A month on, the masses had spread to her ovaries, uterus, omentum, appendix, and abdominal area.

What is colon cancer?

Colon cancer, or bowel cancer, is one of the most common types of cancer in the UK and can be found anywhere in the large bowel, which includes the colon and rectum.

Dr Juyia’s symptoms

The doctor first noticed a mass in her pelvis (Getty Stock Images)

While symptoms usually range from having blood in the stool, irregular poos and weight loss, Dr Juyia didn’t experience any of these.

Instead she noticed a ‘pelvic heaviness’, which turned into a ‘pelvic mass’.

“Having a background in obstetrics, we describe size by weeks of pregnancy and so I was like, ‘Oh my god, I have a 16-week-size mass.’ From experience, I could tell that this was my ovary,” she said.

“I was a little tired in the afternoon for about two months previous to this and as a mum with two little kids – I had been recently nursing them, they were still waking up in the night, I work full time – I didn’t think anything of saying, ‘Oh, I think I need a tea in the afternoon’,” she said after getting her colon cancer diagnosis.

“Whereas maybe someone in their 50s or 60s would be much more tired from stage 4 tumours taking up their energy.”

Following her cancer diagnosis, she began chemotherapy treatment and carried on working to get her mind off the ordeal.

She underwent surgery in March 2023 and, thankfully, there has been ‘no evidence of disease’.

“People that are younger than the screening age (45) should still be paying attention to our symptoms because we’re not eligible for screening usually,” she explained.

“We might not have any symptoms because we are young, our bodies are more resilient. We can tolerate more symptoms.”

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.