Beware! Frequent Heartburns Could Mean Stomach Cancer

Did you know? Heart burns could be a symptom for stomach cancer? Stomach cancer can only be detected in an advance stage since its symptoms are rarely seen during the early stages. But people who experience heart burns for a longer period of time and experience it quite frequently, might have stomach or gastric cancer. In the US, only 1 in 5 stomach cancers are diagnosed at an early stage, before it starts spreading to other parts of the body. Other symptoms to watch out for stomach cancer include stomach aches, feeling too stuffed even after eating only a small amount of food and also feeling a burning sensation while swallowing.

Stomach cancer can be in any part of the stomach but its treatment depends on where the tumour is and how big or small it is.

Finding blood in your stool, persistent indigestion and feeling constantly out of breath are also signs of the condition. People who are most prone to stomach cancer are males, smokers, people from Asia, South Africa and Belarus in Europe and people above the age of 75.

Some common reasons for developing stomach cancer are eating a lot of salty foods and meats, alcohol abuse and lack of exercising.

The main treatments include chemotherapy, chemoradiotherapy, biotherapy and surgery. While smaller tumours can be treated with surgery, the larger ones may require combination of a number of treatments.

Here are some other common symptoms of stomach cancer:

• There is blood in your vomit.
• Your appetite dries up in a hurry.
• Your experience unexpected weight loss.
• You experience bloating, diarrhoea, and constipation.
• There is vague discomfort in the abdomen, usually above the navel.
• You experience sense of fullness in the upper abdomen.
• There is Swelling or fluid build-up in the abdomen.
• You have a low red blood cell count (anemia).