Addressing rise of colorectal cancer in younger people, potential causes

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and doctors are sounding the alarm on the increasing diagnoses and how symptoms can go unnoticed.

If you've had constipation, bleeding from bowel movement, abdominal pain, nausea, the last thing you'd probably think is that you have colorectal cancer.

If they don't get better within a couple of weeks, that's when Dr. Avery Walker, colorectal surgeon at The Hospitals of Providence says you should see a doctor and get a colonoscopy.

He says people are reluctant to get them, but they're crucial for identifying polyps at any age. 

The recommended age to get one is 45 years old, but he's had patients as young as 21.

"It's pretty devastating when they're that young to see," he says. "But, one of the silver linings is that they're fairly healthy and they can tolerate these surgeries and things like that fairly easily. But, we wouldn't have found them if they hadn't had symptoms because they wouldn't have gotten a colonoscopy."

Walker says there are theories on our diet like the increased production of artificial ingredients in ultra-processed foods that impact the gastrointestinal tract that didn't exist decades ago.

The doctor says exercising and eating healthier is key. 

A diet with vegetables high in fiber is crucial, not only to improve bowel movements but benefit your GI tract.

"I think the the best thing is just getting the word out that if you have any kind of weird symptoms, you gotta let us know, you can't hide it," says Walker. "It's embarrassing, I get it, it's concerning as well. You're scared, the research will come and it will help us."

He says surgery is an option as well to remove part of the colon, followed by chemotherapy, and it decreases the risk significantly.