Key Points of Men's Health in Hemorrhoid Prevention and Tumor Screening

Six Things to Avoid for Hemorrhoid Patients

Hemorrhoids are dilated and varicose veins under the rectal mucosa or anal canal skin. The main symptoms include rectal bleeding, anal discomfort, and prolapsed hemorrhoids. The saying "nine out of ten people have hemorrhoids" indicates its high incidence. To avoid further aggravation of the condition, hemorrhoid patients should do the following in their daily lives:

Avoid spicy and irritating foods such as chili peppers and black pepper. These foods can stimulate the blood vessels in the rectum and anus, causing congestion and dilation, resulting in stinging and a feeling of pressure during bowel movements, thus exacerbating hemorrhoids.

Avoid alcohol. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that hemorrhoids are mostly caused by damp heat. Drinking alcohol can exacerbate this damp heat, and alcohol can also cause congestion of hemorrhoidal veins, leading to swelling of the hemorrhoids. Clinically, it has been found that most hemorrhoid patients are sensitive to alcohol; they generally feel anal discomfort half an hour after drinking, and rectal bleeding occurs the next day. If someone drinks excessively, the consequences are even more serious. Men who drink alcohol should abstain from alcohol to alleviate their condition.

Avoid overeating. Overeating can increase abdominal pressure, affecting the return of blood from the hemorrhoidal veins and worsening the condition.

Avoid prolonged sitting. Those who sit for long periods are prone to anorectal diseases. For example, prolonged periods of writing or reading can easily lead to hemorrhoids. Prevention involves standing up and moving around every 1-2 hours, or performing Kegel exercises 30-50 times.

Avoid irregular bowel movements. Constipation is a direct cause of hemorrhoid flare-ups. Some people forget to defecate due to busy work schedules. This often leads to the rectum becoming desensitized to the pressure stimulation of feces, causing stool to remain in the intestines for a longer time. The stool becomes harder and more difficult to pass, requiring straining. This straining can further congest the hemorrhoidal veins, causing hemorrhoids to prolapse or bleed. Therefore, hemorrhoid patients should ideally develop a habit of defecating in the morning.

Avoid delaying treatment. Many people are embarrassed to seek medical attention, which is not advisable.

Don't Forget Lung Tumor Markers in Your Physical Exam

Nowadays, people are paying more and more attention to their health. However, most men don't think about testing for tumor markers during their physical exams. They only consider CT scans and MRIs when abnormalities are found during ultrasound or X-ray examinations, by which time the tumor is often in its middle or late stages, significantly reducing the effectiveness of treatment. Experts believe that appropriately increasing preliminary tumor screening in high-risk groups is essential to improving the early diagnosis rate of tumors.

Even if AFP (alpha-fetoprotein) and CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen) are tested during a physical exam, only about 50% of liver cancer patients will have abnormal AFP levels, and only 15% of stomach cancer patients and 35% of colon cancer patients will have abnormal CEA levels. Therefore, AFP and CEA testing alone cannot guarantee 100% early detection of tumors. Therefore, individuals over 40 years of age, with a family history of cancer, or who have had chronic liver disease, and who are at high risk for cancer, should undergo regular checkups, at least once a year. Those with chronic diseases should have a checkup every six months, and those with high-risk symptoms should have one every three months. In addition to imaging examinations such as X-rays and CT scans, tumor marker testing should also be performed during the checkup.

Tumor marker testing is very simple, requiring only 1-2 ml of venous blood. Currently available tumor marker tests, besides AFP and CEA mentioned above, include CA125 (ovarian cancer-related marker), CA15-3 (breast cancer-related marker), CA19-9 (pancreatic cancer-related marker), PSA (prostate-specific antigen), and TSGF (tumor-specific growth factor). Furthermore, these markers have evolved from qualitative to quantitative testing, making the results more valuable for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

For your health, male friends, please remember to have tumor markers tested during your checkup.