As colorectal cancer is on the rise among younger people, several states are launching awareness campaigns to educate and empower people about the risks, symptoms, and prevention of colorectal cancer.
Causes and Risk Factors
Younger adults are more likely to get colorectal cancer because lifestyle choices, such as a sedentary schedule and bad eating habits, play a big role.
Symptoms of Colorectal Cancer
Knowing the symptoms of cancer is crucial for detecting it early. Knowing these signals is crucial, from subtle early signs to pronounced ones in advanced cases.
Diagnostic Methods
Colorectal cancer can be detected with colonoscopies and imaging tests. Blood tests can also be used to monitor the disease’s progression.
Preventive Measures
Colorectal cancer can be significantly reduced by following dietary recommendations, adopting a healthy lifestyle, and getting regular screenings.
Current State of Awareness
To tailor effective campaigns, we need to understand the current level of awareness among different age groups.
Initiatives by Some States
In several states, awareness and education campaigns have been launched to combat the rising prevalence of colorectal cancer among younger adults.
Importance of Early Detection
It’s important to emphasize that screenings can save lives. Early detection improves prognosis as well as treatment options.
Challenges in Raising Awareness
Colorectal cancer awareness campaigns face challenges from stigmas and misinformation. Dealing with these issues head-on is key.
The Role of Social Media
Harnessing the power of social media to reach a large audience is important. Successful case studies show how social media can spread awareness.
Community Involvement
It’s important to get people involved in the fight against colorectal cancer through support groups and educational programs.
Innovative Approaches
Technology, mobile apps, and gamification in education can make awareness campaigns more engaging.
Governmental Support
Government support for research and awareness campaigns is needed for colorectal cancer.
Personal Stories
It humanizes the issue, makes it relatable, and encourages people to take charge of their health.
Research shows colorectal cancer is on the rise among younger adults, so some states are focusing on educating Blacks and rural residents about it.
Due to rising cases among younger people, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force changed the colorectal cancer screening age from 50 to 45 in 2021. Even younger people are getting life-threatening advanced cancer that could have been prevented if caught sooner. Why are new generations more susceptible?
People of colour and in rural areas are more likely to die from colorectal cancer at any age because they don’t get screenings in time. Colorado, Delaware, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas, Washington state, and West Virginia have boosted screening rates using state and federal money.
For instance, healthcare groups surveyed Detroit-area Blacks 40 and older last year to find out if they didn’t have symptoms, they didn’t need colorectal cancer screenings. The groups increased screening rates by giving patients more information and rolling out software that alerts doctors to schedule screenings.
Delayed Diagnosis and Misinterpretation of Symptoms:
As part of the West Virginia Program to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening, Susan Eason, program director, is considering a state version of a national program to raise awareness. There are 35 state-level programs supported by federal, state, and local money.
“People need to know about symptoms, and providers need to know, so when patients present with something like blood in the stool, they don’t dismiss it as hemorrhoids,” Eason said.
Rural West Virginia residents face multiple challenges to screenings, including long drives on mountain roads to see doctors and a scarcity of gastroenterologists and screening clinics, which can result in a six- to nine-month wait for an appointment.
Furthermore, according to Eason, many occupations do not provide paid time off for obtaining medical care. She explained that to help close the gap, her programme is expanding access to chemical tests that can be performed at home and sent.
However, an in-person colonoscopy is preferable since it can detect precancerous growths that doctors can remove.
Two authors of a December analysis that revealed that colorectal cancer rates are rising with each generation told Stateline that reducing the age for recommended tests is less essential than ensuring that people receive them.
“Rather than lowering the age to initiate screening, I’d like to see us double down on our efforts to optimise screening participation,” said Caitlin Murphy, an associate professor at the University of Texas Health Science Centre at Houston.
According to the American Cancer Society, over one-third of those 45 and older had not been screened.
The study’s lead author, Samir Gupta, a gastroenterologist and University of San Diego professor, agreed.
According to Gupta, those under 45 should get a colonoscopy if they have a family history or “red-flag symptoms” such as rectal bleeding, bloody stools, unexplained weight loss, or low iron anaemia.
Young survivors who contacted Stateline claimed they originally ignored symptoms or had them misread by medical personnel who did not expect cancer in such young individuals.
Jameelah Mahmoud, a nonprofit worker in Milwaukee, claims she was misdiagnosed four times before a CT scan revealed a huge tumour blocking her colon in 2019 at the age of 33, along with stage 3 cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes.
She had been complaining of progressively acute abdomen pain for months but was merely encouraged to avoid spicy meals and take antacids.
Mahmoud, 37 and engaged to be married, is now cancer-free following surgery and eight rounds of chemotherapy. She advises people not to let doctors dismiss their concerns.
“I constantly warn people that they should go if they don’t seem to be listening to them. Because you are precious. “You only have one life,” she stated.
Colorectal cancer mortality has been steadily declining for all ages since 1968, when they were over 28 per 100,000, and are expected to be under 13 by 2023.
However, the proportion of colorectal cancer fatalities among patients aged 45 and younger has increased from 2.5% in 1976 to 3.8% in 2023, according to a Stateline review of federal mortality data maintained by the Federal Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
From 2018 to early 2024, West Virginia and Mississippi had the highest colorectal cancer death rates for all ages and those under 45, consistent with evidence indicating that rural populations are more likely to die from colorectal cancer.
Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Maine, Tennessee, and Vermont had high rates for all ages, particularly young people. The lowest rates were seen in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Utah, Colorado, and New York State.
According to Stateline, rural areas have the greatest rates of colorectal cancer mortality. The most rural locations had 42% higher rates than the most urban areas.
Jacob “JJ” Singleton, in his mid-20s and living in rural North Carolina without health insurance, had no idea about cancer until he experienced painful bowel motions in 2015 when he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer that had spread to his liver and lungs.
Some individuals may have genetic predispositions, such as Lynch syndrome, putting them at a higher risk for developing colorectal cancer at a younger age.
“In my 20s, you know, I just thought I was invincible,” Singleton remarked. “I told myself it was a pulled muscle because I was doing CrossFit training.”
His parents eventually persuaded him to see a doctor after he felt a pulsating mass in his abdomen, which turned out to be a tumour.
Later tests found that Singleton had Lynch syndrome, a genetic disease that put him at an exceptionally high risk for fast-growing colon cancer, but he was unaware of or suspected of this at the time.
“There’s not much medical history in my family,” Singleton explained. “In my family, men don’t go to the doctor often. You go through without complaining. If you get sick, you can only pray that it improves. “They think it’s God’s will.”
However, even in large cities with improved access to health care, early signs may be neglected.
David Thau, a political fundraiser in Washington, D.C., was 34 when he was diagnosed with a malignant tumour that had broken through his colon’s walls in 2019.
“If there had been some kind of awareness campaign, some kind of posters in my doctor’s office or other places where a 30-year-old could look and see, ‘These are the symptoms of colon cancer,’ I would have gotten this checked out much sooner,” said Thau.