An NHS doctor has revealed the five key red flags of cancer he “wished” everyone knew. The expert advised seeing your GP “immediately” if you experience any of these symptoms.
There are more than 200 types of cancer that can affect the human body. The disease occurs when abnormal cells divide and spread in an uncontrolled way.
Typically, the symptoms will relate to where in the body the disease has started. However, some of the signs may be harder to spot or could be associated with other conditions, making them difficult to pick up.
With this in mind, a doctor took to social media platform TikTok to raise the alarm about certain cancer symptoms. Doctor Suraj Kukadia, who is also known as Dr Sooj, urged people to seek help if they spot any of these signs.
These symptoms affect women and could be mistaken for menstrual bleeding as well as conditions like endometriosis, fibroids, or adenomyosis. Dr Sooj said: “These are red flags.”
Bleeding after the menopause
Dr Sooj warned about bleeding after you’ve gone through the menopause.He said: “Even if it’s just spotting or bloody discharge, which means pink like brown, anything like that, go to a doctor. “
Bleeding between periods
He explained: “The second is bleeding in between your periods and that means any bleeding outside of your normal cycle.”
Painful or heavier bleeding
If you’re experiencing bleeding that is “much more painful or much heavier” than normal for you this could signal something is seriously wrong.
Bleeding after sex
Dr Sooj explained that bleeding after sex should be checked out.
Blood stained discharge
He added: “The fifth is any kind of blood stained discharge when you aren’t expecting it.”
According to Dr Sooj, abnormal vaginal bleeding, can be a sign of “multiple different types” of cancer. These include:
- Womb
- Cervical
- Vaginal
- Ovarian.
However, these symptoms do not necessarily mean you have cancer but they should still be investigated. Dr Sooj said: “Chances are, it’s probably not cancer, but we need you to just get checked out.
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“Let’s make sure that we’re not missing something. Please do me a favour and share this video, far and wide, because there are so many women who won’t go and see a doctor immediately, despite having abnormal bleeding red flags.”
In the video caption, he added: “I wish everyone knew these red flags.”
