Colorectal Cancer Screening Age Drop

0:00It's April 1st, this is Canada News today, powered by AI. Prince Edward Island just dropped its colorectal cancer screening age to 45, and Nunavut confirmed they're doing the same soon. BC Cancer is digging into the idea too, thanks to new data showing more cases in younger folks. A bunch of other spots like Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Alberta, and Saskatchewan are reviewing the change right now. Manitoba, Quebec, the Northwest Territories, and Newfoundland and Labrador are looking at evidence but holding steady for the moment. Ontario's checking ways to beef up care, without committing yet. Cancer survivor Barry Stein, who's now CEO of colorectal cancer Canada, is thrilled about this shift. Diagnose at 41 back in 1995, he ignored symptoms until the cancer spread, leading to brutal liver surgeries, chemo, and experimental trials. His ordeal sparked a screen at 45 campaign to spare families that pain. Doctors are seeing colorectal cancer hit people under 52 to 2.5 times more than before.

1:05Experts like Dr. Enrique Sands Garcia, point to diets heavy on processed fats and calisptato habits as risks, but plenty of patients have none of that, and still get it. Screening starts with a simple at-home fecal test for average risk folks aged 50 to 75 and catching it early through these checks saves. Lives before symptoms even show. As more provinces follow suit, we're pushing back against this rising threat together.