Six ways to reduce your risk of bowel cancer

Very Informative and clearly done with beautiful and honest graphics. (I’m a Psychologist and a Statistician so I know what appeals visually to people).
The most important thing about this site is that it is inspiring people to get off their duffs and make improvements to their lifestyle.

I had bowel cancer in 2008 and was extremely lucky to survive as the tumour had almost blocked my bowel. After several visits to my GP,over a five month period, he still insisted it was irritable bowel, even after mentioning my brother died from bowel cancer. After an emergency operation to remove half of my colon and six months of chemo I am now eight years on and feel very lucky, but feel my GP should have looked for bowel cancer much sooner.

Excellent site – clear and succinct

Hi Jayne,
Thanks for your comment.
In 2003, an advisory group called the UK National Screening Committee (NSC) recommended that bowel cancer screening should be offered to eligible people between the ages of 50-74.
But it’s up to each individual government from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to decide what age group to offer screening to.
More than eight in 10 cases of bowel cancer in the UK are diagnosed in people over the age of 60. And this will be taken into account when deciding where to set the age brackets for bowel screening.
A new screening test called bowel scope is also being introduced in England. This will be offered to people at age 55.
You can find out more information about bowel screening on our website.
Best wishes,
Nick, Cancer Research UK

‘The number of UK cases that can be prevented’ is an important statistic for UK public health. But the risk reduction for the individual person achieved by these ‘small changes’…is small. Even added together, they do not reduce the individual’s risk of bowel cancer as much as a screening colonoscopy performed every ten years after the age of sixty. But that of course would require significant funding…

Why does bowel screening begin at 50 in Scotland, but we have to wait until 60 in England? Surely we should all be treated equally.

Very informative. I had a tumour and part of my large bowel removed twenty years ago. Sadly I reported all my symptoms to my GP very early but they failed to diagnose it until several months later when it had grown horribly big and I was really ill. Doctors tend to look for bleeding or diarrhoea and I had severe constipation and tiredness. Please push for tests – I didn’t.

This is an excellent informative article! My husband had bowel cancer 4 years ago! He was caught early, had an operation, as is now clear! So all help telling everyone what to do to avoid risks is excellent!!

And don’t forget to report strange bowel symptoms to your GP – this is no time to be inhibited. It could save your life.

Interesting article. I would also urge people to carry out the bowel screening if a kit pops through the letterbox. Mine came back abnormal and I had to repeat it twice more. It was a bit worrying but the follow-up colonoscopy which was carried out at a hospital showed I had polyps. These were removed from my colon and bowel, in a short one day visit, not too uncomfortable. I will now be checked every three years. I am glad I didn’t ignore the test and it is so easy to do.

This is a very helpful and well laid out article/blog. The simple way to look a lot of the healthiest options in terms of diet is to eat things in their most natural forms ie unprocessed meats and breads with visible grains and fruit and vegetables with their skins on.

Very good thank you

I had bowel cancer in September 2014. Mine was caught early and had not spread. I had tumour and part of my colon removed. I’m now on 5 year follow up plan. I’m one of the lucky ones.

Small changes I must eat more brown bread, I am lucky I don’t like processed meat but I do like a bit of beef and red wine.

In my case I can’t exercise , I’ve got an enlarged prostrate,I’ve also got cpld so I have trouble breathing, and I’m overweight , and I’ve got diabetes type 2 on insulin ,and have a very bad hip ,so I can’t walk more than 10 yards before I’m out of breath.

Test showed cancer in one of my work colleagues and pretty much saved his life. He has no sign now & gets regular checks. Everyone should do it! Hubby & myself take part every 2 years without any problem so far. Better informed than not I say!!

Excellent advice which I took 7 years ago until present day. I’m grateful for the 2 yearly screening programme and cannot understand why people ignore it.

Very helpful thank you

I think its a good article and informative but needs to be out there in leaflets given by GP’s to all patients regardless of age. If a GP diagnoses IBS then the Test should be offered regardless of age and even an Ultrasound as well.

I think this is very informative but think that tests should be available to people younger than 55. My husband has bowel cancer and he is currently In treatment. I have had IBS so a lot of the symptoms are similar and I feel that the test should be available to patients who have IBS earlier .

A very good report very informative. Early diagnosis is very important. I know it happened to me and I have beaten it.

A good article with sensible advice.

Very helpful advice,laid out clearly and in a memorable way.

Great article.

Very useful information and the emphasis on starting with small changes will hopefully encourage more people to try and alter their lifestyle.

This is very helpful and clear advice

Great article. This

Thank you. Very easy to understand and read.

Very informative, giving good sound and sensible advice on prevention measures by taking simple steps.

Very easy to read and understand. Some of the suggestions are obvious like the damage smoking does. Thankyou for the information.

It’s great to be able to access this information so easily, Also it’s way to read and understand thank you .

Very informative Exellent presentation easy to follow

Excellent article

Very interesting and easy to read. It is always good to keep up to date with new findings.

Excellent gives you the potential risk factors without being over alarmist

Keeping abreast of research and ways of combatting types of cancer is essential. Your articles fit the bill exactly with general life improvement suggestions and good information for discussion and decision taking.

The more info the better. Education is all.

I agree with Paul and A Hunt, the fish symbol is misleading. Does no one check for mistakes before publication?

Please continue the stick tests after 74 automatically.

good article very informative and helpful

Why stop screening at 74??? Seems like age discrimination to me (about to be 80).
Two friends who died of, bowel cancer could hardly have had a better diet:: home-made, wholemeal, veg and fruit oriented, etc etc. So please avoid giving the impression that this is yet another cancer or disease which is under our control via diet and lifestyle. It makes sufferers (aka victims) seem blameworthy, when maybe it’s in the stars, or somewhere.

Early diagnosis is vital so encouraging people to go to their doctors is a must to give a
good survival chance. Ignoring systems and being afraid to go to the doctors in case
you might be told you have cancer is something holding some people back .A TV advertising programme to show a lack of courage in going to the doctors would I am sure be benifical.

Good advice. Checking your body should be the 7th way to prevent, or slow down the growth of any type of cancer.

My wife unfortunately contracted metastatic bowel cancer even though she had adhered to all six of your recommendations all her life!! It was also not detected by her routine NHS stool tests which she always did. By the time she developed symptoms because it had spread to her ovaries it was too late to eradicate it completely and so following a major operation she has had to endure repeated chemotherapy and other treatments for more than three years. This is not to suggest that the six recommendations are not very worthwhile but only that they will not nessarily prevent bowel cancer in everyone.

As someone who has been found to have late stage bowel cancer at the age of 58, it is not helpful to read that chances of survival are lower. Having had no symptoms apart from a bit of heartburn and 3 admissions to A & E and finally being diagnosed with a partial obstruction it was discovered on a ct scan. So it doesn’t always follow that you have to have ‘changes’

Very good article. Diverticulitus can also give the same symptons so it is important you check with your GP to put your mind at rest. Worry when you have something to worry about.

Why stop the bowel test at 74? After that we have to remember to ask for it. People can be active and generally fit after that age.

It seems wrong to give people false hope by implying that if they obey every command on that list, they’re safe from bowel cancer: just ask my grandmother. Oh no, too late, you can’t, because that active, slightly underweight, non-smoking teetotaller who lived mostly on the produce of a large garden and an allotment died of bowel cancer!

I donate to cancer research. My best friend aged 70 had an abnormal bowel screening (hidden blood). She is also anaemic; breathless and has to attend the loo regularly, with loose stools, throughout the day. Because she is so tiny a colonoscopy could not be performed and a cat scan revealed all clear. However no answer has been given for the anaemia; breathlessness; indigestion; hidden blood and change in bowel habit. Clearly she is relieved but also concerned that no definite answers have be given. How reliable is a CAT scan please ?

My Mum did all of the things you’re supposed to do, including taking a bowel screening test which came back negative. She was diagnosed early with bowl cancer, had an operation to remove the tumour and then had chemo for 6 months to make sure all the cancerours cells had gone. The chemo didn’t stop the cancer from spreading to her liver and in June last year she was given 18 months to live. She died before Christmas, not even making it to 6 months. She was 68 and had been incredibly fit and healthy all her life. Sometimes you can do everything right and still be so unlucky. I say do what you enjoy, regardless of whether it’s ‘good for you’ or not. Just enjoy the life you have.

First thing I noticed was a fish picture on the “Eat less processed and red meat” advice balloon chart ….better to show sausages etc surely when we are encouraged to eat more FISH I see Paul said this too. What about some chat on keeping body less acidic too ! A Hospital nurse knew nothing about this, yet I have read much on this and it’s another way of showing how over sugar intake needs major alteration..

Different people respond in different ways. All the six points are helpful in their own ways but the key idea, I think, is moderation in all things! The most important point stated is ‘and if you notice something unusual, talk to your doctor’. I did just this (haemorrhoids) 15 years ago, was diagnosed with early stage bowel cancer and am here to tell the tale!

David and Michelle – you can do things to make cancer less LIKELY, but there are no known ways to prevent it 100%. This article is just helping people to make it less likely that they get cancer!

Why is there a fish icon, on the graphic for red meat? Do you mean red fish as well?

David

They can’t. The article addresses known risk factors that they estimate could help prevent half of the cases of bowel cancer, so half would still happen even if we all took their advice. There are still other risk factors needing to be found and more work to be done to have a chance of preventing every case or at least spotting it early but reducing by half is a good start.

More knowledge like this is very helpful. I think it’s people having confidence to go to the doctors early. And the doctors being sensitive on any cancer systems.

Very interesting and helpful information , although I’ve had cancer twice I’m very aware of the dangers

my brother in law has just had a bowel cancer operated on, thankfully they got it all.
but hes been a veggie all his life so he dont eat meat hes a healthy weight etc.. only thing is on this list he drinks alcohol within reason, so explain why he go it?

The advice on reducing bowel cancer is very difficult to follow if you are also type 2 diabetic as most of the alternative foods recommended are a no-no. Beans and pulses, for example, make my sugar levels rocket.

Michelle (April 6th), I think you misunderstand the point of this article, which aims to highlight important risk factors associated with bowel cancer. The article does not purport to be an exhaustive list of all risk factors, or claim that addressing these highlighted risk factors will definitively prevent bowel cancer in everyone.

What rubbish, I weigh 10 stone and I am 5’9″ I have never smoked or drank an eat a high fibre low fat low meat diet, I walk the dog for 90 mins per day on top of a,9 hour shift on my feet all day but I was still told in Jan this year I had a tumour
By the way I am 52 and I had breast cancer 5 years ago so all of your stereo typing is rubish

This article is well organised, clearly written and potentially very valuable to people who are concerned about this dangerous and quite common form of cancer. It is also balanced in that it makes clear that most of the symptoms taken individually may have other causes. The tone is positive not alarmist.

This article has been helpful to me. I am 81, my husband is 91. We are relatively healthy as far as we know, but we do eat processed meat on a daily basis in our lunchtime sandwiches. I think we are going to change the habit. Tough, as we love ham.