A surgeon is pleading with Generation Z to get a basic test to avoid a future cancer battle and let go of embarrassment around talking about bowel movements and bad diets.
Dr Mark Soliman has noticed a terrifying rise in younger patients getting diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
The physician is seeing more and more 20-something-year-olds who have been diagnosed with this “100% preventable” disease.
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With March being colorectal cancer month, the 44-year-old doctor – who specialises in this area of medicine – is urging young people to get a basic stool test.
But he says shame and stigma are standing in the way.
“Patients getting diagnosed with colon and rectal cancer are getting younger and younger,” said Mark, who recently launched SurgeOn, an app that acts like a social media platform for surgeons to share skills and advice with each other.
“I’m seeing patients in their mid-20s with aggressive cancer.
“As a surgeon, it is heartbreaking to witness because it is 100% preventable.
“But people are too embarrassed to talk to their doctor about their bowel movements or the colour of their stool.
“I would much rather inconvenience a patient with a simple stool test or colonoscopy than treat them for cancer.
“These days, more people live sedentary lifestyles.
“They exercise less, eat high-processed food diets, don’t get enough fibre and so on and so forth.
“It’s not that far of a stretch to link these issues together with the rise in colon cancer among younger patients.”
Dr Soliman grew up in Tallahassee, initially studying pharmacy at Florida A&M University’s College of Pharmacy before being accepted to an accelerated medical school program at the University of Florida.
The dad-of-two is dedicated to fighting colorectal cancer at the source and is campaigning to raise awareness throughout March.
While many people will ask for symptoms to look out for, the surgeon reveals that it is often too late once you start noticing them.
He said: “The symptoms for colon cancer, unfortunately, are late.
“Those can be changes in bowel habits, whether it’s in the feeling of increasing constipation, a change in the diameter of the stool, or rectal bleeding.
“Sometimes intense rectal pressure can be kind of a late-stage sign of rectal cancer, but these are all very vague.
“That’s why it’s so important to get screening exams like colonoscopy or some of the DNA tests or stool tests that we can get.”
Dr Soliman, who lives in Orlando, Florida, recommends regular exercise, a healthy balanced diet and cutting out smoking to prevent a colon cancer diagnosis.
He says to avoid smoked meats that are often high in nitrates and have been linked to a rise in this type of cancer.
He added: “Patients who do work out and have a typically healthier whole food diet are at lower risk.
“All those things put you at a higher risk.
“It’s so important to talk about the stigma around colonoscopy and preps.”
“You don’t have to get this cancer.”
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