Bowel cancer has recently been in the news thanks to the work of the late campaigner Dame Deborah James, who died of the disease aged 40 in June.

While everyone should rightly check their stool for signs of the disease, its symptoms are not limited to just one's stool.

According to Stanford Medicine, other symptoms of colon cancer that don't come from someone's stool include signs they describe as "vague."

Symptoms listed along these lines are dull abdominal pain, fatigue, and anemia;

this is a condition where the body lacks enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen around the body.

In the early stages of bowel cancer, also known as colon cancer, Stanford Medical says the cancer often produces 'no symptoms'.

Early detection also means that the cancer is less likely to have spread to lymph nodes and other nearby organs.

This message of diagnosis and early detection is essential for all cancer patients;

as the disease metastasizes and spreads, it becomes much more difficult to treat.

As a result, it is essential that patients are aware of the main symptoms of bowel cancer so that they can take action by booking an appointment with a GP and getting checked.

The main symptoms of bowel cancer are:

  • Persistent blood in the stool

  • Persistent change in your bowel habits

  • Constant pain in the lower abdomen.

While these symptoms can be worrying, the NHS adds: “Most people with these symptoms do not have bowel cancer.

Other health problems can cause similar symptoms."

However, it is important to get checked just in case.

Experts say it's much better to get checked and find nothing wrong than to wait and have this problem turn into something more.

/Telegraph/