Blood in the stool - Causes and Symptoms

Definition

The presence of blood in the stool can be clearly visible to the naked eye or identifiable only by microscope or by laboratory analysis (in this case we speak of occult blood in the faeces).

If bleeding affects the rectum or anus, small streaks of bright red blood may be seen in toilet paper or drips in the toilet.

Although blood in the stool can be caused by intestinal polyps or colorectal cancer, several more common and less worrying conditions determine the same sign; these include hemorrhoids and anal fissures.

Suspicious symptoms that may indicate the presence of a colon cancer are, in addition to bleeding, an unjustifiable weight loss or an abnormal physical weakness, the emission of tape-shaped (thin) faeces or alterations of the alvus (constipation, diarrhea or alternation of the two conditions). Unfortunately, normally, such symptoms tend to appear only when the tumor is already at an advanced stage; hence the importance of undergoing periodic screening examinations starting from 50 years of age (or earlier for predisposed subjects).

Intestinal bleeding in the initial tracts of the intestine becomes evident with the presence of dark stools (because the blood has been digested). Also in this case, there are different non-tumor conditions that can determine similar chromatic alterations; iron supplements (and the conspicuous intake of foods that are rich in them, such as spinach and cocoa), tend to make feces particularly dark; a high consumption of beetroot and licorice can instead give a red color to the faeces.

To know more:

Faecal occult blood

Blood in toilet paper

Faeces color

Colonoscopy

Pain during and after defecation

Colon cancer: take the test and find out if you are at risk