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Age of testing for bowel cancer to be reduced

leeds cancer awareness
Bowel cancer is one of the leading types of cancer in the UK, but awareness around the disease needs to improve, and the stigma around testing reduced.

According to Bowel Cancer UK, the average age to be diagnosed with bowel cancer is 60 and this is when a testing kit is sent to your home address.

However, over 2,500 people under 50 are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year.

Bowel cancer can happen to anyone at any age. Early awareness of symptoms can improve diagnosis and therefore help people get the support they need.

Leeds Cancer Awareness, aims to improve knowledge around early detection of cancer, and to reduce the stigma around the disease, especially bowel cancer.

Darren Meade, project coordinator, explained “we’ve got a weird relationship with what comes out of our bodies so some people put their head in the sand and they don’t want to do it (a home test).”

He continued “the average age for testing is being reduced, but not for a while due to the backlog of screening from the Coronavirus pandemic.”

The NHS states the 3 main symptoms of bowel cancer being persistent blood in your stool, a persistent change in your bowel habit or persistent lower abdominal pain. All these symptoms should be checked immediately by a GP.

Following a tweet from 2016, Leeds Central MP, Hilary Benn, expressed to not “put it off because of embarrassment.”

“Go and see your GP. And if you are sent one of the bowel cancer screening packs because of your age, do the test and send it back. It could save your life.”

BBC Radio 1 presenter Adele Roberts was diagnosed last month with bowel cancer, aged just 42.

The former Big Brother star has recently undergone surgery to remove her tumour and urged anyone suffering health problems to seek help.

In a recent Instagram post, Roberts said “early detection saves lives.”

“I don’t want this little horror taking any more of us.”

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