Colorectal cancer is on the rise: What you need to know and how to help

atlanta
CNN
—

This is a sobering statistic. By 2030, colorectal cancer is expected to nearly double in the number of people under age 50 and become the leading cause of death for people aged 20 to 49.

But there's also good news. Overall, colon cancer diagnoses are decreasing. Experts believe an increase in cancer screenings is to blame.

So what can we do to reduce incidence among young people? And why is it happening in the first place?

Researchers say they believe “something happened in the 1950s and 1960s” that led to today's cases of early-onset colorectal cancer. Dr. Robin MendelsohnGastroenterologist and Co-Director Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Juvenile Colorectal and Gastrointestinal Cancer Center.

“If that's one answer, I think we've found it,” Dr. Mendelsohn says. “If it was something obvious or one big thing, we would have found it.”

She thinks it's likely a combination of behavioral and environmental changes.

Researchers are looking at factors such as the ages of patients' parents at birth, whether they were born by caesarean section, whether they were breastfed, antibiotic use, and even Wi-Fi exposure.

Younger patients tend to be diagnosed later in the disease because they are not screened and may have to see several doctors before they figure out what's wrong.

April Witzel, a nurse and midwife, was diagnosed with colorectal cancer at age 45.

She had no obvious risk factors. “I'm a woman, I'm white, I don't eat a meat-rich diet, and no one in my family has had colon cancer,” she says.

Her first symptoms were severe abdominal pain and nausea. Later, there was blood in her stool. There was so much blood that she took pictures of the contents of the toilet and went to the ER.

And even though she's a medical professional who spends her days in the hospital, Witzel didn't receive the care she expected.

“He was in severe pain, he was crying, and there was blood in his stool. [the doctor] “Isn't it your period?”

Shocked, Mr. Witzel replied: “I'm a female health care worker, and she sees more vaginas in a day than I see in a year…I can tell if she's bleeding vaginally or rectally.”

The ER doctor then looked at her photo again and asked if she had “ate beets recently.”

“When you think about how much I had to advocate for myself…I had medical knowledge. I didn't have knowledge about cancer, but the cancer system They knew how to manipulate it. There are a lot of people who don't, and they just expect their caregivers to do the right thing,” Witzel said.

By the time Witzel was diagnosed, her disease had spread. “If caught early, it can be cured. It's currently stage 4 and has spread to the liver and lungs.”

Witzel's story is an example of what can happen when a young person goes to a doctor's appointment and the doctor doesn't think to test for things normally associated with older people.

While her story may be a worst-case scenario, she hopes others can learn from her experience and push to get the care they need.

Key differences between younger and older patients

The majority of young colorectal cancer patients have no family history of the disease, and most do not have a genetic predisposition to colorectal cancer. Obesity seems to play a small role in some of these cancers, but many of these young patients are vegetarians. Some are marathon runners. Lifestyle is usually associated with greater protection from developing colorectal cancer.

“Our hope in our study is to find high-risk groups for early screening,” says Dr. Mendelsohn.

She recommends that everyone over the age of 45 get a colonoscopy or other screening test.

While these mail-in tests are generally reliable and useful, there's a reason colonoscopies remain the gold standard, she says. However, they are not very good at finding polyps. [With a colonoscopy] you can get them [the polyps] It was removed at that point,” Mendelsohn said.

Ultimately, Dr. Mendelsohn says: “Colorectal exams save lives. If you're under the screening age, know your family history. We're working hard to solve this, and there's hope we can find a solution. Masu.”

Black men and women are particularly at risk of developing colorectal cancer.

Timothy Mitchell was 43 years old when he was diagnosed.

“Older generations didn't talk about what was going on, and that was a disservice to us,” Mitchell says. “It was almost like a hush-hush.”

Knowing your family history is important and can save your life. In Mitchell's case, her relatives didn't always talk about why her family was in the hospital, what illness they had, or what symptoms they had.

“What happens in the house stays in the house. We're not telling people our business,” Mitchell says. For him, it could have been fatal.

“Because I didn't know what to look for. I had Lynch syndrome. I didn't know that so many people in my father's family had cancer until I talked to my aunt.”

Lynch syndrome put Mitchell at an increased risk of colorectal cancer, but he didn't know it. Now he plans to encourage his sons to get their first colonoscopies in their early 30s. (Doctors usually recommend that children of colon cancer patients have their first colonoscopy about 10 years before the age of their parents' diagnosis.)

Mitchell, an avid bike rider, regularly approaches other bikers and strikes up a conversation about colonoscopies. It's probably not your typical biker story, but it could potentially save your life.

“When people hear they have cancer, they think they're going to die. They shouldn't feel as if it's a death sentence,” he says.

“Cancer is detectable, treatable, and surmountable,” Mitchell says.

It's important to know your family history and talk about it. You should be aware of any family history of Lynch syndrome or colon cancer so that you can get tested early.

Consult your doctor if you notice a significant change in your bowel habits or if you notice blood in your stool.

“Most people don't talk about their poop. It's not a good dinner conversation,” admits Dr. Mendelsohn. Although most rectal bleeding is not necessarily cancerous, Dr. Mendelsohn emphasizes that you should always get tested.

Find a doctor you feel comfortable with who will take your concerns seriously.

“I don't want to talk about bodily functions,” Nurse Witzel admits, but she wasn't taken seriously. “It can be embarrassing. But I'll share my story every day if it helps just one person.”

Click here if you would like to support colon cancer patients. here Or use the form below.