Sitting on the toilet for more than 10 minutes could cause a variety of intimate health problems and may be a sign of colon cancer, doctors suggest.
With smartphones constantly within our reach, it’s no surprise that many of us can lose track of time when we sit on the toilet.
However, experts have warned that the common habit of going to the bathroom could not only increase the risk of hemorrhoids and incontinence, but could also indicate something much more sinister.
Dr. Lai Xue, a colorectal surgeon at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, cautioned that you should only sit on the toilet as long as you need to relieve yourself.
The pressure of the toilet seat on the buttocks causes a rush of blood to the vessels in the area, he explains.
This increases blood pressure in the delicate area around the anus, increasing the risk of hemorrhoids.
“It becomes a one-way valve where the blood comes in, but the blood can’t really come back,” he said. cnn.
Sitting on the toilet for long periods can also be a sign of colon cancer, experts warn.
With smartphones constantly within our reach, it’s no surprise that many of us can lose track of time when sitting on the toilet.
Bowel cancer can cause you to have blood in your stool, a change in bowel habit, a lump inside the intestine that can cause blockages. Some people also experience weight loss as a result of these symptoms.
Sitting on the toilet for too long can also be a sign that you’re having to strain to have a bowel movement, a habit that can weaken your pelvic floor muscles, which help with bowel movements in general and also help retain urine.
It can also cause rectal prolapse, a medical problem in which excessive straining causes the rectum to sag and the anus to protrude.
Gastroenterologist Dr Lance Uradomo explained that the need to spend more time in the bathroom to complete a bowel movement could be an indicator of the disease, which is increasing in Britons under 50.
“If a growth inside the colon grows large enough, it can block the flow of stool, which can cause constipation and bleeding,” he said.
He added that throughout his career he has noticed an increase in the number of young people seeking help for hemorrhoids and constipation, and many of these patients were later diagnosed with colon cancer.
Experts continued to express concern about an “epidemic” of bowel cancer.
Data shows that the disease has increased by 50 percent in people in their 20s, 30s and 40s, and these cases in younger adults are medically defined as “early-onset” cancer cases, over the past 30 years.
Oncologist Dr Shivan Sivakumar, from the University of Birmingham, previously described the situation as an “epidemic”.
He said: ‘There is currently an epidemic of cancer among young people (under 50).
“The cause of this is unknown, but we are seeing more and more patients suffering from abdominal cancer.”
Experts have been left stumped as to what is driving the phenomenon with theories including our growing taste for junk food and a simultaneous rise in obesity, which affects the health of our digestive system.
However, cancer specialists have told MailOnline that this does not explain the rise in the disease among young people, a significant proportion of whom are perfectly fit and healthy.
Bowel cancer currently kills just under 17,000 Britons each year and only half of those diagnosed are expected to survive 10 years after learning they have the disease.
Almost 45,000 cases of this disease are diagnosed each year, making it the third most common cancer.