Q: I am a 54-year-old man. Of late, I have noticed blood in my stools. My father died of colorectal cancer at 73 and my mum died from heart disease at 68. What are my chances of inheriting their medical problems? I am about 1.65m tall and weigh 58kg.

A: Bleeding in the rectum, the last portion of the large intestine that ends just before the anus, warrants a visit to a physician for evaluation. Depending on where the bleeding is, treatment ranges from relief of symptoms to antibiotics, blood transfusion or surgery.

Anorectal disorders like haemorrhoids, which are swollen veins in the anal and rectal area, and a rectal fissure, which is a tear in the lining of the rectum, are the common causes of minor rectal bleeding.

Symptoms are brought on by hard stools and straining with bowel movements. Symptoms are generally improved with use of stool softeners and bulking agents, increasing fibre and fluid in the diet, pain control and frequent warm water baths.

Thrombosed haemorrhoids (haemorrhoids containing clotted blood) cause moderate-to-severe pain and minor surgery is required to remove them.

Colorectal cancer, also called colon cancer or large intestine cancer, is the second most common cancer in both men and women in Singapore. The first symptoms of colorectal cancer are usually vague, like a change in bowel habits, bleeding, weight loss and fatigue.

You are more likely to develop colorectal cancer if you have a parent, sibling or child with the disease. If more than one family member has colorectal cancer, your risk is even greater.

Screening for colorectal cancer should begin at age 50. Those in the high-risk group should be screened earlier and/or more frequently.

If your father or brother had a heart attack before the age of 55, or if your mother or sister had one before the age of 65, you are more likely to develop heart disease. This does not mean that you will have a heart attack.

It means that you should take extra care of your heart to keep it healthy. You can reduce your risk of heart disease by taking steps to control factors that put you at greater risk such as preventing and controlling high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes mellitus. -Dr Benjamin Ng

This article was first published in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times.