Are you getting involved in Bowel Cancer Awareness Month this April?

April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month and Medical Specialists™ Pharmacy are proud to support a disease that is increasingly affecting people of all ages, despite being commonly looked upon as an ‘old person’s disease’ as previous figures show around 72% of people diagnosed with bowel cancer are over the age of 65.

The aim of Bowel Cancer Awareness Month is clued in its name – to raise awareness about this type of cancer and draw attention to it, help people understand the symptoms of the disease and why it is vital to receive treatment at the earliest possible chance. Each year over 40,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK, claiming almost 16,000 lives.

Bowel cancer is also known as colorectal or colon cancer, and is the third most prevalent type of cancer in the UK alone. Almost all cases of bowel cancer begin to develop within the large bowel – two-thirds in the colon and one-third in the rectum.

Symptoms include: Blood in your faeces, the appearance of mucus in the faeces, inexplicable weight loss, persistent abdominal pain lasting longer than two weeks, severe constipation or diarrhoea lasting longer than two weeks and tiredness as a result of becoming anaemic from microscopic bleeding from the bowel.

You could experience either one, some, or all of the above symptoms, but some people could experience none at all. Most symptoms will probably not be bowel cancer but if you are worried any of your symptoms are related to the disease, make an appointment to see your doctor immediately.

Don’t be worried about wasting someone’s time, it is better to get assessed and be at peace of mind than spending time wondering why you are getting the symptoms you are. Even if it should be bowel cancer, the earlier it is spotted through screening, the greater the chances of treatment being able to cure the cancer completely.

Screening for the cancer is conducted by the analysis of a patient’s stool sample for the presence of blood – a faecal occult blood test is used for this.

Over the next three years, patients over the age of 55 will also be able to benefit from an additional screening test that consists of a camera examination of the lower bowel called a flexible sigmoidoscopy.

The fact that statistics show 90% of people who receive treatment for bowel cancer early enough are able to recover shows that a visit to your doctor may just save your life.

The charity Bowel Cancer UK have a detailed list of ways you can get involved with Bowel Cancer Awareness Month and useful information about living with bowel cancer, including dietary advice such as as what to eat and drink during treatment, and much more.

The Bill’s Ben Richards on ignoring the symptoms of his bowel cancer

British stage and television actor Ben Richards has spoken of his shock at being diagnosed with bowel cancer at just 39 years of age despite no family history of the disease and him having a healthy diet.

Bowel cancer is more common in the over-65s with 72% of diagnoses occurring in this age group. Obesity, alcohol, smoking and a diet high in red or processed meats are also other risk factors for developing what is the now the third most common type of cancer in the UK.

Ben, now 41, appeared in the ITV drama Footballers’ Wives back in 2004, playing the role of Bruno Milligan. He has since appeared in other television shows such as Holby City and The Bill, however has now returned to theatre work which he had been involved in prior to finding fame on TV.

Young and slender Ben has never struggled with his weight and the diagnosis stunned him after he chose to ignore the symptoms he was experiencing, stating he was a ‘typical man’ and was reluctant to speak to his doctor about ‘that part’ of his body. The actor had noticed his bowel movements had altered and there was a small amount of blood in his stools. Ben assumed it was internal piles and the change in bowel movements was because he had just finished travelling around India. Never for a moment did he consider he was suffering from anything as potentially-deadly as bowel cancer.

Ben, who has recently become ambassador for Bowel Cancer UK, says: “I was just a total bloke about the situation.  Like most men I didn’t want to even think about going to a doctor and it wasn’t until my then wife Helen nagged me that I eventually saw my GP.”

In January 2012, Ben finally decided to seek help and visited his GP, who subsequently urged Ben to immediately see a specialist upon hearing his symptoms.

By luck, Ben was able to schedule an appointment to see a private doctor on the very same day and was then booked in for a colonoscopy. This is where a thin, flexible tube with a camera attached (a colonoscope) is used to investigate the entire bowel.

Just one week later, Ben underwent his tests at the Harpenden Spire Private Hospital. Scans revealed a 6cm tumour in his bowel and he was given the news straight away that he had cancer.

He says: “I couldn’t quite compute what the doctor had told me. It was terrifying and cancer had always been something that happened to other people, not me. I had no family history of the disease either, so it never occurred to me that symptoms I had mistaken for IBS and piles could be something so serious. Surgeons were forced to remove almost half my bowel which was incredibly painful. The whole combination of treatments was a shock to the system and to be honest I felt awful.”

His recovery involved gruelling six-week cycles of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. After experiencing a few small complications along the way, Ben has fully recovered and currently in his fourth month of remission.

Although he describes feeling ‘better than ever’, he has learned valuable lessons and is now more careful in regards to his health. “I have always eaten healthily but now I’m extra careful. I don’t eat red meat and wheat and I’ve given up beer entirely – much as I miss it – because I just don’t want to take the risk of the cancer returning.”

As Ben highlighted, bowel cancer can be difficult to determine, with symptoms similar to less life-threatening conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome. If you experience unusual symptoms for longer than a few weeks, it is recommended you seek medical attention as soon as possible. Ben made a full recovery with a relatively earlier diagnosis, but persistent ignoring of symptoms can prove fatal.

Symptoms include: Blood in your faeces, the appearance of mucus in the faeces, inexplicable weight loss, persistent abdominal pain lasting longer than two weeks, severe constipation or diarrhoea lasting longer than two weeks and tiredness as a result of becoming anaemic from microscopic bleeding from the bowel.

If you have any of these symptoms, Medical Specialists Pharmacy advises that you see your GP immediately. In addition to the colonoscopy mentioned earlier, another test your GP may refer you to, is the ‘faecal occult bloods’ (FOBs) test. Here, many samples of your faeces are scanned for any possible microscopic amounts of blood lost from a tumour. If a diagnosis is made, a ‘Dukes’ staging’ is given to the cancer to determine how it is likely to progress or conclude which is the best course of treatment to go for the patient.

Male bowel cancer rates have soared by almost 30% in 35 years

A study conducted by Cancer Research UK suggests that male bowel cancer rates have soared by over a quarter in the past 35 years, with just a 6% increase for women in the same period according to the charity.

New figures have emerged as we begin bowel cancer awareness month, and have coincided with the launch of a new campaign by the Bobby Moore Fund called ‘Make Bobby Proud’. The Fund is a partnership with Cancer Research UK that first began back in 1993 by Stephanie Moore MBE, the widow of the 1966 World Cup winning England captain Bobby Moore, and has raised an incredible £18.8 million since its inception.

The England legend tragically passed away in 1993 after a hard fought battle against the disease. Not only helping to raise funds for advanced research into bowel cancer, the Fund also looks to raise awareness of a disease that claims the lives of 44 people in the UK each day.

The new research shows that cases of bowel cancer in men have risen from 45 per 100,000 in 1975-77 to 58 per 100,000 in 2008-10 – representing an increase of 29%.

However, during the same time frame for women, there was a lower incidence of the disease with 35 per 100,000 increasing to 37 per 100,000.

Biggest increases of bowel cancer were seen in people aged in their 60s and 70s, with approximately 23,000 new cases being diagnosed each year.

There is some positive news however; it appears that bowel cancer survival rates are improving with evidence suggesting that half of all patients living for at least a decade after their diagnosis.

Professor Matthew Seymour, from the University of Leeds, who is director of the National Cancer Research Network, said: “We know the risk of bowel cancer increases as we get older and, since we’re all living longer, it’s no surprise to see that the number of people getting the disease is rising. But when we look at these figures and take people’s age into account, we still see that the risk of bowel cancer has gone up in men in the last 35 years. It’s important to find out what’s behind the rise and what we can do about it. The good news is that, thanks to research, we have seen huge improvements in bowel cancer survival over the last 40 years. It’s this research that’s led to better drugs to treat the disease, improved surgical techniques, the use of more radiotherapy and the introduction of bowel screening to spot the disease earlier, when it is most effectively treated.”

Mrs Moore added: “It’s good to see that despite the rise in incidence, bowel cancer survival is improving. However, it’s vital we continue to fund research to fight this disease as these new statistics show. Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the UK, after lung cancer. Finding a way to beat bowel cancer has been my goal for the past two decades and my hope is that by increasing awareness and helping to fund Cancer Research UK’s vital research, many more lives can be saved from this terrible disease in the future.”

Bowel cancer is also sometimes referred to as rectal, colorectal or colon cancer, depending on where the cancer begins. It is the third most common type of cancer within England and in 2009 alone, it was reported there were 41,142 new cases of bowel cancer. Of these new cases, 18,431 were diagnosed in women and 22,711 cases were diagnosed in men. It is uncommon for those under the age of 40 to develop the cancer, with around 85% of new cases being diagnosed in people over the age of 65.

Factors that increase the risk of bowel cancer include: having an inactive lifestyle, smoking, heavy alcohol intake (over 4 units a day) and obesity. In addition, others at risk are those with a high intake of processed foods, red meat, low-fibre foods and high-fat foods.

The cancer can be sometimes difficult to ascertain and the symptoms are sometimes similar to other less life-threatening conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome. However, if you experience symptoms for longer than a few weeks, it is recommended you seek medical attention as soon as possible. Symptoms include: Blood in your faeces, the appearance of mucus in the faeces, inexplicable weight loss, persistent abdominal pain lasting longer than two weeks, severe constipation or diarrhoea lasting longer than two weeks and tiredness as a result of becoming anaemic from microscopic bleeding from the bowel.

If you have any of these symptoms, Medical Specialists Pharmacy advise that you visit your GP immediately. Your GP may want to check for bowel cancer by conducting a rectal examination to check for any abnormal changes at the lower end of the bowel. Another test your GP may want to refer you to is one called ‘faecal occult bloods’ (FOBs). Here, many samples of your faeces are scanned for any possible microscopic amounts of blood lost from a tumour. If a diagnosis is made, a ‘Dukes’ staging’ is given to the cancer to determine how it is likely to progress or conclude which is the best course of treatment to go for the patient.