{"id":11217,"date":"2024-05-13T16:26:06","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T16:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/?p=11217"},"modified":"2024-06-24T08:04:51","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T08:04:51","slug":"why-bowel-cancer-is-not-only-a-disease-of-older-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/oncology\/why-bowel-cancer-is-not-only-a-disease-of-older-age\/","title":{"rendered":"Why bowel cancer is not only a disease of older age"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-profile-box round ab-has-avatar ab-font-size-14 ab-block-profile ab-profile-columns\"><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-avatar-wrap\"><div class=\"ab-profile-image-wrap\"><figure class=\"ab-profile-image-square\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" class=\"ab-profile-avatar wp-image-11218\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2024\/05\/07205839\/Bernie-002.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2024\/05\/07205839\/Bernie-002.jpg 250w, https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2024\/05\/07205839\/Bernie-002-125x125.jpg 125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-content-wrap\"><h2 class=\"ab-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Bernie Carter<\/h2><p class=\"ab-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Assistant Director of Nursing Services, Marie Keating Foundation<\/p><div class=\"ab-profile-text\"><\/div><ul class=\"ab-social-links\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Approximately 1 in 5 bowel cancers are diagnosed in someone under 60. The incidence of bowel cancer in people under 50 has almost doubled in 25 years.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>As part of their #NoRegrets bowel cancer awareness campaign, the Marie Keating Foundation called on the Government to reduce the age of bowel cancer screening from 59 to 50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-why-reducing-bowel-cancer-screening-age-is-important\"><strong>Why reducing bowel cancer screening age is important<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Around 1 in 5 bowel cancers are diagnosed in under-60s while 1 in 10 are under 50.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>According to the National Cancer Registry in Ireland, the incidence of bowel cancer in people under 50 has almost doubled in 25 years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Approximately 22% of bowel cancers diagnosed during 2014\u20132018 were in people under 60.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Most countries begin screening for bowel cancer at the age of 50 as recommended by the European Code Against Cancer.\u00a0\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The European Commission recommends the expansion of bowel cancer screening for adults between 50 and 74.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The US and Australia have lowered the screening age to 45 years given the increase in early-onset bowel cancer. England has a four-year plan to extend bowel screening from 54\u201374 to 50\u201374. Scotland screens from 50\u201374; Wales (51\u201374).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>As part of the national cancer strategy, Ireland plans to extend bowel screening to ages 55\u201374 over five years.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bowel-cancer-causes-and-risk-factors\"><strong>Bowel cancer causes and risk factors <\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The exact reason for increased bowel cancer in younger people is unknown. Last January, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yalemedicine.org\/news\/colorectal-cancer-in-young-people#:~:text=Yale%20Medicine%20doctors%20warn%20that,aware%20of%20the%20warning%20signs.&amp;text=Nobody%20in%20their%2020s%2C%2030s,and%20has%20been%20for%20years.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Yale Medicine<\/a> doctors stated that sedentary lifestyle, overweight and obesity, smoking, heavy alcohol use, low-fibre diet, high saturated fat diets or diets high in processed meats and other environmental factors have all been associated with the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-signs-and-symptoms-of-bowel-cancer\"><strong>Signs and symptoms of bowel cancer<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Be aware of the symptoms of bowel cancer. Listen to your body, and see a GP if you notice anything new. Those under the screening age of 59 must be vigilant; don\u2019t wait until you reach screening age to get checked. People must still avail of current bowel screening, which is for ages 59\u201369.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Changes in bowel habits (diarrhoea, constipation, narrowing of stool for no obvious reason for six weeks or more)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Blood in the stool (rectal bleeding)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Abdominal cramps, pain or bloating that won\u2019t go away<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sudden, unexplained weight loss<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A lump in your back passage or tummy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A feeling of straining (needing to go to the toilet even after opening your bowels)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tiredness and breathlessness<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>These can also be symptoms of other conditions, so it\u2019s important to see your GP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"color:#32373c;background-color:#19aaa1\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-notice ab-font-size-18 ab-block-notice\" data-id=\"5e5432\"><div class=\"ab-notice-text\" style=\"border-color:#19aaa1\"><p>Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/mariekeating.ie\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mariekeating.ie<\/a> for more information on bowel cancer.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Approximately 1 in 5 bowel cancers are diagnosed in someone under 60. The incidence of bowel cancer in people under 50 has almost doubled in 25 years. As part of their #NoRegrets bowel cancer awareness campaign, the Marie Keating Foundation called on the Government to reduce the age of bowel cancer screening from 59 to &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/oncology\/why-bowel-cancer-is-not-only-a-disease-of-older-age\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":11219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2856],"tags":[5917],"class_list":["post-11217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oncology","tag-innovations-in-oncology-2024"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2024\/05\/07205839\/GettyImages-1804866102-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2024\/05\/07205839\/GettyImages-1804866102-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Your Future Career","author_link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/author\/harveyodonnell\/"},"vicky_category_order":[{"category_id":2856,"order":"1"}],"vicky_index_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11217"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11220,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11217\/revisions\/11220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}