3 colours of stool reveal body warning signs, Grey and white may lead to cancer

 Translation : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA

Take a look before you flush! 3 colours of stool reveal body warning signs, Grey and white may lead to cancer

Editor : Zheng Xinlian / https://news.tvbs.com.tw/life/1762417

Stool can reflect the health of the body, including colour, appearance, etc. You can see some clues. Zhan Yixue, a hepatobiliary and gastroenterologist, pointed out on Facebook that stool is usually yellowish brown but if there is black stool or bloody stool, you should pay attention to the possibility it is a gastrointestinal problem while grey and white is related to the pancreas, reminding the public to pay more attention.

Dr. Zhan Yixue shared on Facebook that what most people think of as bloody stools usually refers to "black stools", because red blood cells contain heme, and heme contains iron ions. If the red blood cells are destroyed by stomach acid, the iron ions in heme will contact stomach acid and turn black after a chemical reaction. Therefore, if the stool is black, it may be a tumor or bleeding in the digestive tract, esophagus, stomach, duodenum, or proximal small intestine.

As for the red stool, the bleeding point may come from the lower digestive tract, such as distal small intestine, colorectal cancer, hemorrhoids, etc. Because the blood does not stay in the digestive tract for too long, the large stool will be bright red.

Image : Physician analyzed 3 different colours of feces, each representing a physical warning signal. (Photo/Photo taken from Dr. Zhan Yixue's Facebook) 

Zhan Yixue explained that the reason why the stool is yellow-brown is because bile is secreted into the digestive tract, which makes the colour of the stool yellow-brown. Therefore, if the stool has no colour looks like white clay, it means that the bile is not excreted into the digestive tract. The reason is the obstruction of the bile duct, bile duct stones, bile duct cancer, pancreatic cancer, ampullary cancer and so on.

 

However, Zhan Yixue also said that the colour of feces is also related to the food eaten. For example, eating too many green vegetables may make the color of the stool greener, and eating foods with high iron content, such as pig blood and duck blood, may turn black, eating red dragon fruit or beetroot may turn red. So if the stool colour is abnormal, first think about what you have eaten before going to the doctor for examination.

冲水前多看一眼！大便3颜色曝身体警讯　灰白色恐罹癌

编辑 : 郑心连 / https://news.tvbs.com.tw/life/1762417

粪便能够反应身体的健康状况，包括颜色、外观等都能看出一些端倪，肝胆肠胃科医师詹宜学就在脸书发文指出，大便通常都为黄褐色，不过要是出现黑便、血便就要注意可能是肠胃出现问题，灰白色则和胰脏相关，提醒民众多加留意。

詹宜学医师在脸书分享，一般人认为的血便通常是指「黑便」，因为红血球中有血红素，血红素里面有铁离子，如果红血球被胃酸破坏，血红素中的铁离子便会接触胃酸，经过化学反应就会变成黑色。因此如果大便呈现黑色，表示可能是消化道、食道、胃、十二指肠或近端小肠的肿瘤或出血。

至于红色的大便可能是出血点来自下消化道，例如远端小肠、大肠癌、痔疮等等，因为血在消化道停留的时间不会太久，所以大出来的便便就会是鲜红色的。

 

詹宜学说明，大便之所以是黄褐色，是因为胆汁分泌到消化道，使便便的颜色变成黄褐色，因此若大便没有颜色，或是看起来像白色黏土，代表胆汁没有排至消化道，最可能的原因是胆道的阻塞，胆管结石、胆管癌、胰脏癌、壶腹癌等等。

 

不过詹宜学也表示，粪便的颜色也和吃进去的食物相关，像是吃太多绿色蔬菜可能会让便便颜色偏绿，吃了含铁成分较多的食物，例如猪血、鸭血就有可能变黑色，吃红色火龙果或甜菜根可能会呈现红色，所以若发现大便颜色异常，可以先回头思考一下吃过什么东西，再前往就医检查。