TOLEDO, Ohio — March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.
It's a good reminder that people should start getting regular screenings around age 45.
Patient Scott Reinhart's experience has him raising awareness about colon cancer.
“I had gone through a typical screening when I turned 50, had a colonoscopy and it revealed multiple polyps," said Reinhart.
He said his results surprised him, especially since he didn't have symptoms.
That’s not surprising however. Colorectal cancer is a type of cancer that doesn't always have symptoms, especially in the early stages.
That's why doctors recommend getting regular screenings starting around the mid-forties to early-fifties.
"If you catch it at an early stage you can often achieve a cure. In terms of catching it before it spreads to the lymph nodes system, to the lungs, liver and bones. Then it becomes metastatic, wide-spread and incurable,” said Dr. Ahmad Malas, a gastroenterologist at ProMedica.
According to doctor Malas, one-third of women, and nearly half of all men in the United States will develop pre-cancerous colon polyps, even without prior cases in their families.
That's why Reinhart is urging people to schedule a colonoscopy when the time comes, because it's key to catching the cancer early.
"If you find and remove these little growths in the colon, that we call polyps, before they turn into big growths that are tumors, cancers, malignancy. That's how you prevent cancer altogether in the first place,” said Reinhart.
Symptoms of colorectal cancer include changing bowel habits, abdominal discomfort, rectal bleeding, weakness or fatigue, and unexplained weight loss.
RELATED: