For as long as I can remember I have had tummy issues. I remember when I was a lil girl I would be curled up in a ball with gas pains that felt like contractions. Ugh! I never mentioned it that much to my mum and as kids we all had stomach aches or threw up at some point. As I got older I just thought gas was normal for everyone, and it is, but now that I am older (42, to be precise) and the rates of colorectal cancer in people under 50 is rising, I am paying more attention. It seemed like my tummy was always getting mad about something.
Photo credit : follow @harlowandsage on Instagram. This is Reese and Indiana.
Long story short, I started hearing things about microbiome and gut health ,etc. When i was 17 they diagnosed me with a mild hiatal hernia due to all my sports activities. That just created heartburn and acid reflux issues as I got older. Now you see gluten-free more and more. Then I find out that my great grandmother died of stomach cancer so that just adds to my anxiety. Plus there's all sorts of things nowadays like GERD, Crohn's disease, IBS, FODMAP diets, etc etc. The more processed our diets are the worst we all seem to get.
Excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the United States. The American Cancer Society’s estimates for the number of colorectal cancer cases in the United States for 2017 are:
- 95,520 new cases of colon cancer
- 39,910 new cases of rectal cancer
Dayyyyumn :(
The American Cancer Society reports that Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women in the United States and the second leading cause in men. It is expected to cause about 50,260 deaths during 2017.
The death rate (the number of deaths per 100,000 people per year) from colorectal cancer has been dropping in both men and women for several decades. There are a number of likely reasons for this. One is that colorectal polyps are now being found more often by screening and removed before they can develop into cancers or are being found earlier when the disease is easier to treat. In addition, treatment for colorectal cancer has improved over the last few decades. As a result, there are now more than 1 million survivors of colorectal cancer in the United States.
I know that when i go for my physical in July I plan to mention my great grandmother's case and see if I can get a colonoscopy before the age of 50. They are working on lowering the screening age. A lot of diseases can be prevented or cured with early detection. Yeah, it ain't no picnic but I want to be proactive.
There are so many resources on the internet as well. Get the guts! (pun intended) and pay attention to your dogestive health!
https://fightcolorectalcancer.org/prevent/about-colorectal-cancer/facts-stats/
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/28/health/colon-cancer-rectal-cancer-risk-young-people-study/index.html