You may have heard your mum tell you at least once not to spend too much time straining on the toilet bowl, otherwise it would result in painful piles. Mothers know best — chronic constipation is indeed one of the causes of piles, or haemorrhoids.

Haemorrhoids are swollen blood vessels in the anus and lower rectum that become enlarged and swollen due to pressure. They are felt as small, round lumps around your anus or outside the anal canal. While they sound serious, haemorrhoids are actually very common in Singapore and occur in adults from time to time.

What are the symptoms to look out for, and is surgery necessary if you have piles? Let’s find out.

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. As we end the month, let’s continue raising awareness for this number one killer in Singapore. Did you know that colorectal cancer is one of the three leading cancers in Singapore, regardless of gender or ethnicity? Everyday, approximately 5 Singaporeans are diagnosed with colon cancer, and to date, we have more than 1,200 cases each year.

At first thought to be more prevalent amongst middle aged individuals, colon cancer is on a steady rise among young adults. About 1 in 10 cases these days are patients between the ages 20-50. As it is, we don’t know exactly what causes colorectal cancer, what more find an explanation for the rising trend among young adults.

While more research needs to be done, what we can do to reduce colorectal cancer rates is to undergo regular colorectal cancer screening and find out more about the condition, including its symptoms and risk factors.

A colonoscopy is a medical procedure to visually image the lining of your colon in order to examine it for any irregularities. Colonoscopies are usually carried out by general surgeons or Gastroenterologists. A long and soft tube with a camera & light known as a Colonoscope is carefully inserted via the anus, carrying a live image to a screen which allows the doctor to examine the colon, all the way to the exit of the small intestine.

A gastroscopy can help rule out or confirm the presence of conditions like stomach cancer, peptic ulcers or gastritis. In this procedure, a thin, flexible tube called an endoscope is lowered down the throat to look inside the food pipe, stomach and first small of the small intestine. The endoscope has a camera and light at one end which captures and sends images of your insides to a monitor. It can also take tissue samples by latching instruments such as small pincers, as well as suck out air and fluids.