Colon Cancer, and Dangers Associated With It
Typically, Colon Cancer is something that is not talked about as often as it should be. Not many people pay much attention to the fact it is a real thing, and commonplace as well. There are many people around the world that are victims of it, and treating it early is incredibly important.
If it is not treated early, it can certainly get worse and may lead to certain death. Just like any cancer or disease, it is much better for it to be found early, and therefore can be treated immediately.
Symptoms of Colon Cancer
There are many symptoms that are clearly associated with colon cancer. “Diagnostic colonoscopy’s triggers are blood per rectum (37%), abdominal pain (34%), and anemia (23%),” according to the National Library of Medicine. If any of these symptoms are constant, then checking in with your doctor may be necessary, and quickly. There may also be emergency surgery associated with it.
There are other symptoms, more severe, that require this emergency surgery. “Most common indications of emergency surgery are an obstruction (57%), peritonitis (25%), and perforation (18%),” states the National Library of Medicine. Therefore, keeping an eye out for these symptoms is especially important, especially in those that are younger.
Colon Cancer in Adults, vs. Young People
Typically, the younger generation is considered a more low-risk factor. This is unfortunately why there are more young people dying of colon cancer each year. Many young people do not get checked for colon cancer, even though they clearly have it.
This has led to many deaths in young people and is incredibly unfortunate that their young lives are taken when this could have been detected early on. However, there is treatment available, and if colon cancer is suspected, receiving immediate treatment is essential to prevent anything worse from occurring.
The death rate has also increasingly dropped in adults because of the regular check-ups that many adults receive. This means they receive colonoscopies on a regular basis. Therefore, they receive treatment immediately if they need it based on the results of the colonoscopy.
“The death rate from colon cancer has been dropping for several decades in older adults who get regular colonoscopies and have improved treatment, according to the American Cancer Society. However, younger people are diagnosed at advanced stages and are dying,” according to UPI News.
This goes to show that many younger people, despite getting treated, still die because of what stage they are in. This is easily preventable, but unfortunately, nothing seems to be getting done about this issue.
Statistics of Colon Cancer
Delving deeper into the statistical outlook, it is clear that it is much more common than it may seem. Even though adults are a primary target, it seems young people can also get it, and unfortunately, most young people die because of it.
“Colorectal cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the United States — and the second most common cause of cancer deaths among men and women combined. About 100,000 cases of colon cancer, and just under 45,000 cases of rectal cancer, are diagnosed per year,” according to the Fred Hutch Cancer Center. Although there are treatments that come along to help with colon cancer, sometimes it may be too late to administer any treatments. Therefore, spotting it early is incredibly important to ensure survivability rates dramatically increase.
The Future of Colon Cancer
Clearly, young people most of the time end up dying because of colon cancer. Therefore, something needs to be done to ensure that young people can get checked up, just the same as adults do. This way, the death count by colon cancer can decrease, in both younger people and adults.
Written by David Loran Jr
Sources:
UPI News: Awareness of four symptoms could lead to early detection of colon cancer
Fred Hutch Cancer Center: Colorectal Cancer
National Library of Medicine: Colon Cancer
Featured Image Courtesy of Jennifer Boyer’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of MedGlobal Org’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License