
Colon and rectal cancer cases are going up among people younger than age 50 - fortran77
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/29/health/colon-cancer-cases-growing-younger-people/index.html
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runamok
Yesterday Chadwick Bozeman, the actor who played Black Panther in the Marvel
movies among other notable movies, died of colon cancer at age 43. He was
diagnosed in 2016 and it progressed from stage 3 to stage 4 in that time.
Obviously anecdata but perhaps his death will call some attention to this
because of his relative youth and fame and not be in vain.

[https://ew.com/movies/chadwick-boseman-dead-black-
panther-42...](https://ew.com/movies/chadwick-boseman-dead-black-
panther-42-actor-dies-colon-cancer-43/)

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ksaj
In Ontario (Canada) the government automatically contacts you to obtain a free
FIT kit when you turn 50.

I just did mine, and it came back "abnormal" (which is a descriptor I've lived
with all my life). Needless to say I'm hoping it's nothing, but it is wise to
get tested for such things as soon as you reach each risk milestone in life.

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angrais
Hoping it's nothing buddy! Best wishes

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ksaj
Thanks. I know other people have gone through exactly this and came out
alright, so I'm keeping my mind in that direction. There are a number of
things that can trigger abnormal FIT results, but of course the value is in
subsequently discovering what is causing that to occur, even if it ends up a
non-emergency, and then dealing with it before it can become one.

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switch11
best of luck

hope it's nothing

my grandfather had something bad around 70, so i'm hoping it's not genetic.
anyways, a long time until i have to worry about it

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tarr11
If you are feeling apprehensive and delaying it, you should know that getting
a colonoscopy is a painless experience. In and out in a few hours.

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cipherzero
Absolutely painless. The “worst” part is having to drink enough water (with
laxative and electrolytes) to clean your system for a clear view. I just had
mine done and I was way more more anxious then I needed to be. Now I feel
silly for being so worried about it.

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ksaj
This is good news. I'm going for one in a couple weeks, so of course I'm a tad
nervous about it all. I don't normally get poked around like that. It's not
the greatest rite of passage.

My mother had one done when I was a kid. I only remember her being absolutely
humiliated by the "air" on the trip home - as children we couldn't not giggle
about that particular after-effect. Even back then it was an out-patient
ordeal. She did say it was like going to the dentist - scary but otherwise a
breeze! (her pun, not mine...)

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asya999
To be more accurate though - it used to be a lot worse than it is now. Even as
recently as a decade ago the stuff they gave you to drink to clear you out was
much more ... what's the word... let's say unpleasant. They now have stuff
that is just as effective clearing everything out but without such unpleasant
sensations...

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noodlesoups
>ACS researchers found that the rate at which people are diagnosed with
colorectal cancer in the United States is dropping among those 65 and older
but rising in younger adults.

Could it be that more young people are taking screenings, while those already
taking them have decreased risk of cancer?

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copperx
No, according to the scientists I've heard. The increase in testing does not
explain the dramatic increase in cases. There are a few hypotheses, but so far
nothing concrete.

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valuearb
Is a 2.2% increase “dramatic”? Is it even statistically significant?

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rkwasny
Is there an easy to get medical test for all different kinds of cancers etc.?
Maybe an MRI?

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asya999
It's not recommended to get what are called full body scans - one of the main
reasons is all the false positives and unnecessary alarms it causes. Most of
us have some artifacts that will show up on various scans and will look
exactly the same next year and next decade.

On the other hand, many tumors are now discovered incidentally when getting a
scan for something else. That tends to also cause higher anxiety levels, but
at the same time allows addressing a real issue at a much earlier stage.

