March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month: Here’s what you need to know to save your life
EL PASO, Texas -- Actor Chadwick Boseman died last August from colorectal cancer. With March being Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, here are answers to some of the questions you may have about the disease. ABC-7 spoke with Dr. Jaime Gomez, a board-certified colon and rectal surgeon with The Hospitals of Providence. We started by asking Dr. Gomez about the importance of getting screened for colorectal cancer, usually through a colonoscopy.
"Screening is incredibly important as early detection results in a 90% survival rate," said Dr. Gomez. "Thorough screenings may detect the cancer before symptoms appear. We’re seeing that roughly 1 in 3 people are not up to date for their screenings. The new recommendation for screening has been lowered to age 45 for both men and women."