did you know that March is colorectal cancer awareness month if not you may also not be aware that colon cancer cases are on the rise among young adults under the age of 55 and when they are diagnosed they're at increasingly Advanced stages it's an issue that's frustrating Healthcare Providers who've long warned that colon cancer is one of the most preventable types of cancers if people would only get checked Raven Santana spoke with one woman who lost her mom to colon cancer and then later learned she too had the disease diagnosed with stage three cancer at the age of 41. she's sharing her story now to help others in November of 2011 I was went in for a routine colonoscopy and that's when they found a tumor in my colon Christina Thompson was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer at the age of 41. the diagnosis came after several people in her family were diagnosed with it including her mother who passed away at age 46. genetic testing was not widely available at the time of Christina's diagnosis but she was able to get tested after her treatment ended her results revealed she had Lynch syndrome so with Lynch syndrome you're predisposed to colon cancer endometrial cancer stomach cancer small intestine cancer so you have a higher chance of you know developing those cancers in your lifetime Thompson is now advocating that people get screened when something seems off the CDC recommends regular screening starting at age 45.

Thompson notes Her diagnosis came four years before that Benchmark knowledge is so powerful because with that knowledge I have been able to um uh honestly Isaac advocate for colon cancer awareness and the importance of screening but screening at younger ages and it's kind of just a little infuriating that it's not taken more serious right they give you like you know you know some over-the-counter medicine to help relieve it but they're not exploring it and so that's where I think as an as a young adult and you're in their 40s you mean you have to speak to your doctors about getting screened for colon cancer according to a recent report from the American Cancer Society the proportion of colorectal cancer cases diagnosed in adults younger than 55 increased from 11 in 1995 to 20 in 2019. and we need more awareness of primary care physicians that this is an ongoing uh Trend and you need to keep that in the back of the month of your mind when somebody even if they're 35 comes in with GI complaints that you know it could be something more serious I mean the fact of the matter is that at they kind of just say well it's colitis and you know don't worry about it and and that's the problem Dr Howard hawkster associate director for clinical research and director of GI oncology at Rutgers Cancer Institute says it's important to pay attention to your body not your age when something seems off if you're between 45 and 55 you should talk to your doctor about an initial screening colonoscopy even if you're healthy and have no symptoms that's why we call it screening because there aren't any symptoms and the reason that that's important is that colonoscopy not only can find pre-cancerous lesions but it can remove them and then you never get colon cancer and getting screened for colon cancer just got more affordable now that Governor Murphy signed a new law requiring health insurance providers in the state to cover colonoscopies beginning at age 45. the new law also removes out-of-pocket costs for patient who need to have a colonoscopy following a positive non-invasive screening test you know think of it in your car okay you know we have to check the oil in the car we have to service the battery we have to make sure that your car is going to run properly otherwise it's going to break down so we're asking individuals to screen by the age of 45. it's a simple test what it allows us to do is by taking a purge a flush at a clean out is that we have the ability to look inside of you relatively quickly safely and have the ability to determine if you are predisposed to something that you don't want Dr Mark Gilder colorectal surgery specialist at cooperman Barnabas Medical Center says while the signs and symptoms for colon cancer can sometimes be less obvious He suggests getting a screening you're having a change in the size of the Dual caliber when you go to the bathroom it's becoming thin like a pencil well it's got to get it's got to get evaluated if you're losing weight if you feel fatigued if you field un unlike your normal self and this is progressing getting evaluated and not to be silent is the most important thing well it remains unknown what has led to the uptick in cases of colon cancer among younger adults everyone I spoke with stressed that regular screening is critical to prevent colon cancer for NJ Spotlight news I'm Raven Santana [Music]