![]() But in just the last few months, she recalled seeing three patients under 45 who progressed into advanced disease. ![]() Christine Brezden-Masley, used to be around 65 years old and predominantly male. The typical age for patients, according to oncologist Dr. Cancer, said many of the younger patients he sees have tried to get medical care for months, but were turned away because most physicians and caregivers didn't realize they could be at risk. Carl Brown, the lead for surgical oncology at B.C. "But we feel strongly that all those patients, all of those people, should have endoscopic evaluation to rule out cancer."ĭr. "One of the challenges for young people is that, when presenting with symptoms, are often told that they have hemorrhoids or some benign condition that's causing bleeding," said Vancouver-based colorectal surgical oncologist Dr. Whatever the reason, doctors are worried that younger patients may be slipping through the cracks of a medical system that screens older adults - and asking whether that needs to change. The trend has been observed for years, in multiple countries including Canada, with no clear cause - though there are plenty of swirling theories that it could be linked to dietary or lifestyle changes in recent decades. ![]() While her situation remains rare, it's increasingly clear to gastrointestinal specialists that colorectal cancer is on the rise among younger adults. Juliao required major surgery to remove a roughly 30-centimetre stretch of her lower colon, had to take more than half a year off her work as a midwife to recover, and is now learning to live with life-altering changes to her digestive system.Īlexis Juliao took this photo of her abdomen in hospital after having major surgery to remove a roughly 30-centimetre stretch of her lower colon. "I was actually relieved they had found what was wrong," she said, "which very quickly turned into realizing the gravity of the whole situation." She had Stage 1 colon cancer, despite only being in her mid-30s. Once Juliao finally had her scope - after nearly nine months of experiencing symptoms - she learned what was causing her bizarre bleeding while breastfeeding her youngest daughter in her hospital bed: a tumour. She eventually took photos of the blood in her stool, prompting her physician to refer her for a colonoscopy. For more than six months, Juliao kept experiencing the same bleeding, but most people simply brushed it off because of her age. What followed was a lengthy, frustrating process to figure out what was actually going on. And she knew she didn't have any hemorrhoids. "Everyone explained it, or dismissed it, as being normal."īut Juliao knew it wasn't normal. "Everyone said to me, it's hemorrhoids, you just had a baby," the London, Ont., mother recalled. After giving birth to her third child at 35-years old, Alexis Juliao began noticing blood in her stool.
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