Eastleigh MP Mims Davies has urged people aged 60 to 74 to have a bowel cancer screening test in an attempt to lower death rates from the disease.
Mims made the plea at a reception in London for the charity Bowel Cancer UK where she met a constituent and survivor of the condition, Ann Cole from Bishopstoke.
Ann spoke to Mims about battling the disease that she discovered she had when aged only 50, and which also killed her mother. She told her it is the fourth most common cancer and there are 16,000 deaths in the UK from it every year.
But early diagnosis can radically affect prognosis with early intervention leading to improved survival rates.
“Talking to Ann gave me a very good insight into this terrible condition that affects more than 41,000 people each year,” said Mims.
“It’s clear the Bowel cancer screening programme is an effective way of tackling the disease with research showing that if the programme can achieve a 60% uptake then it would reduce the bowel cancer death rate by 16%.
“I understand that the charity is keen to see a quicker and more sensitive screening test introduced and I will be talking to the Department of Health to see if this is possible because, during trials, this test had a bigger uptake and that could save lives.”
Symptoms of bowel cancer include:
· Bleeding from the back passage (rectum) or blood in faeces
· A change in normal bowel habits
· A lump that a doctor can feel in the back passage or abdomen (more commonly on the right side)
· A feeling of needing to strain to go to the toilet even just after going
· Weight loss
· Pain in the abdomen or back passage