Twisted Truth

Bowel Cancer . Old Person’s Disease, Right? Not Quite . As More and More Young Women Are Being Diagnosed, Wh Rev Als the Surprisingly Simple Red Flags That Could Save Your Life.

- Charlotte Huff and Alex Davies

When Ally Parry went to her GP with major fatigue, she wasn’t surprised to hear her iron levels were low. It could be down to a few things, she was told. Female? Tick. Vegetarian? Check. A new mum? Yes. But, a series of events – inconsistent blood-test results and perseverance from both her and her doctors – lead to a shock diagnosis that nobody saw coming. She was iron deficient because she had bowel cancer – at just 29 years old.

“Hearing that was harrowing... an absolute shock,” says Parry. “I had a CT scan the next day to see if there were tumours in my liver and lungs. I was so relieved when they didn’t find any. I’ve never cried so hard – I’d be able to be a mother to my son.”

Before her diagnosis, like many of us, she saw bowel cancer as ‘an old man’s disease’. The reality? Latest stats reveal the cancer (symptoms of which can include gas, a change in bowel habits, bleeding and, as in Parry’s case, anaemia) has started affecting young women, just like you. The numbers: by the year 2020, the incidence among those aged 20 to 34 is predicted to increase by 37 per cent, according to a 2014 report by University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. By 2030? Up to 90 per cent. The outlook is similarly grim for those aged 35 to 49.

In Australia, while the percentage of bowel cancer cases in under 50s is recorded at seven per cent, experts believe the proportion is higher. “Recent US figures revealed about 15 per cent of people who get bowel cancer in America are under 50,” according to Graham Newstead, a colorectal surgeon and director of Bowel Cancer Australia. “Our new figures are due in a couple of years and I think they’ll be similar.”