Poop is a very serious business. In fact, it could even save your life.

Your bowel movements say a lot about your health and can act as an early warning sign of a serious health problem. This is especially true for bowel cancer. Bowel cancer, also known as colorectal cancer, is the third most common cancer in the world, with 1.4 million new cases in 2012. With an ever-aging population, this figure is forecasted to continue rising.

A change in bowel movements that persists for more than three weeks can often provide an early sign of colorectal cancer. Other symptoms may include blood in the stool, unexplained weight loss, extreme tiredness, abdominal pain and even a lump in the stomach. If any of that sounds familiar, then it’s always best to consult a doctor.

Picking up on the early signs of the disease is very important, as early diagnosis and treatment can skyrocket a patient's chance of survival. It’s estimated that 90 percent of people who develop bowel cancer can be cured if it’s caught at stage one.

Unfortunately, our time on the toilet is often shrouded in shyness and embarrassment.

Ash Gupta of Ramsay Health Care UK told MailOnline that "The most difficult thing I have to grapple with as a bowel cancer consultant is the needlessness of many of these deaths." 

To curb this problem, Gupta has created an infographic to raise awareness and spread some simple, yet life-saving, information.

^{Image credit: Ramsay Health Care UK}