Younger adults are missing early warning signs of colon cancer, writer reports in The N.Y. Times

Many adults in their 20s, 30s, and 40s are missing the red flags for colon cancer, a problem that's partially responsible for colorectal cancer rates rapidly rising in that age bracket.

A story by Roni Caryn Rabin in editions of The New York Times a while ago notes that the most common warning sign for the disease is passing blood in the stool.

Rabin's article explains, too, that "rectal bleeding is associated with a fivefold increased risk of colorectal cancer, according to the new analysis, which looked at 81 studies that included nearly 25 million adults under 50 from around the world."

Other common warning signs are abdominal pain, change in bowel habits, and anemia.

At the same time, the story says, rates have declined among older people, "who are far more likely to get colonoscopies that can catch cancers and precancerous lesions called polyps."

Despite the fact that "millennials born around 1990 are at almost twice the risk of colon cancer compared with people born in the 1950s, and have a risk of rectal cancer that is four times as high, young people without a strong family history of colon cancer aren't eligible for colonoscopies until the age of 45," the Times piece adds. 

Dr. Joshua Demb

According to Dr. Joshua Demb, cancer epidemiologist at the University of California, San Diego, and one of the lead authors of the paper that was published in the journal JAMA Network Open, because physicians are less likely to suspect malignancies in younger people, they may attribute a symptom like rectal bleeding to a benign condition like hemorrhoids, rather than cancer.

"We need to facilitate early detection," he was quoted as saying, "and one way is identifying these red flags."

According to Rabin, "from the time younger adults first go to a caregiver with a complaint about a symptom until thy receive a diagnosis can take four to six months on average [and] because the diagnosis is often delayed, younger adults tend to have more advanced disease that s harder to treat."

Colorectal cancer, the story also says, "has long been associated with obesity, smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, high alcohol intake, and diets that are rich in red meat, processed food, and sugary drinks."

More information about red flags can be found in Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.