Bowel Cancer Awareness Month

April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month and the latest figures from Cancer Research UK show that the number of cases of bowel cancer have risen considerably. In the 1970s, the figure for men diagnosed with bowel cancer was 45 in every 100,000 – now it is 58. For women the figure has risen from 35 to 37.

This month the charities who focus their attentions on bowel cancer have different campaigns highlighting the raising awarness of this disease.

Bowel Cancer UK's "Great Start Breakfasts" – supported by Ainsley Harriott. The charity asks you to "get your morning off to a good start". Set a date, pick a menu (a healthy one, I hope!), invite your guests and raise funds for Bowel Cancer UK's campaigning and support work. Look on the charity's website and find posters, recipes and invitations in a pack which can be ordered.Your breakfast could be a picnic, round the kitchen table or in a formal dining room.

Food writers, critics and chefs have donated their recipes,  including Sophie Dahl, The Hairy Bikers, Heston Blumenthal and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

 
 Beating Bowel Cancer are using a different approach. They are using a campaign called "The Bowel Movement" - a title that is certainly on point! As you can see from the link they have four ways in which you can raise awareness and some money at the same time.

During April 2013, football will unite to help raise awareness of  bowel cancer Players, managers and match officials from throughout professional football have joined forces with bowel cancer charities, including Beating Bowel Cancer, to stand up against the disease. The campaign is being supported by the PFA, the League Managers Association and the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd, and will see their members wear the campaign’s ‘Star of Hope’ badge from April 13 to 20 as the season comes to an end.

Match officials throughout the Premier League and Football League, and players from selected Football League clubs, will also wear Know the Score t-shirts to warm up in prior to games.


"The Never too Young Report" by Bowel Cancer UK highlights very poignantly the fact that increasing numbers of younger people are developing the disease. In this report in which they make 5 key recommendations, from the suggested development of a "bowel disease decision aid tool" to adequate screening and psychological and physical support for everyone. Bowel Cancer can be difficult to diagnose and symptoms might include dark or black stools (caused by bleeding), an unexplained change in bowel habits, abdominal pain, anaemia, weight loss, bloating or vomiting. As with other cancers, too many people are unaware of the symptoms, too many GPs do not recognise the symptoms (partly because they could point to other conditions) and patients return again and again before a referral is made; too many younger patients (under the age of 50) find themselves faced with delays in diagnosis and a lack of support. Please watcgh some of the video stories - it highlights how age can work against you in getting a diagnosis.

Risk factors include age (over 72 per cent of cases are diagnosed in people over the age of 65 – but as we have seen, the disease is appearing in younger patients); diet (high in red or processed meats and saturated fats, added to low fibre); being overweight; a high intake of alcohol or cigarettes; genetic conditions – ie a close relative with the disease; or a related condition, like Crohn's Disease.

Currently, the NHS is offering screening for those over the age of 60 and soon to be extended to those aged 70-75. You may have received a screening pack in the post – if so, please don't ignore it. It may be fiddly to carry out but it just might alert the screening centre to a problem. The result is returned to you very quickly. I wonder, should we not also be considering a colonoscopy for everyone over the age of 40 – as is the case in the USA?

Early diagnosis is the key to a good outcome. If you are concerned about any of the symptoms listed above, please do not be embarrassed – your GP has heard it all before – and make that important appointment. As the television commercial says, it does not matter which words you use – just use them. I know exactly how embarrassing this can be but once you make that first step into the GP's surgery that embarrassment disappears - I felt a sense of relief *(excuse the pun) that I had and he had heard it all before! As the Nike advert used to say"JUST DO IT"!