Colon+Cancer+Rate+Increasing+in+Young+Adults

**Colon Cancer Rate Increasing in Young Adults**

__**Thesis Statement**__ Insurance companies that set a policy to not cover colonoscopies until individuals are atleast 50 years of age is a major cause in the increase of cancer at an earlier age.

__**Research Questions**__  __**Topic Introduction Paragraph**__ In 2010 there were 142,570 new cases of colorectal cancer and of that number 51,370 resulted in death. We watch commercials and read pamphlets about having a colonoscopy done at the age 50 but when you are nowhere near that age we think it doesn't apply to us, well, that is what I thought untill last year I became a statisitc when I was diagnosed with Stage 1 colon cancer at the age of 29. I look back on things, I had so many signs of colon problems but because I was not 50 years of age or had a family history of colon cancer I did not think it was anything to worry about. I was told there would be a 2% chance my polyp would be cancerous and I had nothing to worry about, due to my age. If I would have waited any longer to be checked my survival time would have been around 5 years, but now because it was caught just in time there is a 90% chance it will not return, but if I would have had the diagnosis before it turned cancerous it would have been an even better outcome for me. Colorectal cancer can be preventable with the proper screening.
 * 1) What is the survival rate of individuals who get tested at age 50 and older compared to those who are diagnosed with colon cancer younger than age 50.
 * 2) Does putting an age on colonoscopy screening make people less concerned about their risk.
 * 3) Is colon cancer increasingly diagnosed in individuals 50 years of age or younger?
 * 4) How are individuals screened for colon cancer and made aware of its increasing cause of death if left unscreened.

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__**Research Process Reflection Page**__

My search strategy began by first thinking of a topic and finding out if there was actual information that would be relevant. I chose my topic because about 9 months ago at the age of 29 I was diagnosed with colon cancer with no family history of having it and I have wondered if they checked me sooner would it have gotten to this point. I first searched Google and saw a few topics come up about the increase in colon cancer among individuals before the age of 50 and figured it would be a great research topic. When I had the opportunity to search Academic Search Complete I had a lot of options to choose from since the coverage was not limited to one topic. When I searched the Ohio link database and looked into the CINAHL Plus, Medline and Medicine and Health since they did involve topics in healthcare I thought I could find useful information but that was not the case the topics were off topic and more based on colon cancer alone but not relevant to my topic. I will continue to research Academic Search Complete as a resource to obtain information for my topic since it gives aspects on colon cancer, colonoscopy, and research being done about colon cancer increasing. This way I am not limited to one source.

__**The Annotated Bibliography**__

**Colorectal Cancer in U.S. Adults Younger than 50 Years of Age, 1998-2001. American Cancer Society, 2006. Web. 15 April. 2011.**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">This is a study done is completed by specialists in the field of Cancer Prevention and Control. The study is based on age incidence rate and rate ratios. This source covers information based on the increasing rates of colon cancer in individuals under the age of 50 since this is the recommended screening age unless an individual is high risk due to family history. This study sheds light on the rates of individuals under the age of 50 being diagnosed with colon cancer due to the lack of screening. These studies are done by accredited officials such as the National Cancer Institute, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control they use a method of variables over a 3 year period to monitor the severity and development of cancer in adults age 20-49 years of age. The purpose of this study is to make people aware that colon cancer does affect people at an earlier age and since people are waiting to be screened at the age of 50 these individuals younger that are proven to have a more advanced case of colorectal cancer. This is a great source it has proven research, results on the increasing cancer in youth, effects of not being screened earlier. It is well organized and the detail is not too extreme that it becomes overwhelming. There are graphs to see the data results as well as easily understandable descriptions of how the study was done.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">**Couric, Katie. “Katie Couric’s Colonoscopy Caused A Cross Country Climb in Colon Cancer Checks: Study shows Celebrity Endorsement Affects Health Behavior” Ascribe Newswire: Health. July. 2003: 6-8. Article**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Katie Couric a well known television personality steps out and underwent a colonoscopy on live television it’s purpose was to make public aware that Colon Cancer can affect any age and did not discriminate. Katie lost her husband at the age of 42 to colon cancer. She became a colonoscopy crusader since the death of her husband. The experience Katie has had with the affects of colon cancer and her crusade to make people more aware opened the eyes of the public to how severe colon cancer is. The source is easily accessible to the public and comes from a reliable source with a story to help make the general public aware of the severity of a preventable disease. There are statistics from the National Cancer Institute making one aware of how colon cancer is the second leading cause of death. Katie Couric’s fight is to make people aware that obtaining a colonoscopy is a simple procedure and can prevent people from becoming another statistic.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">**MD, Meyer E. Joshua, “Increasing Incidence of Rectal Cancer in Patients Aged Younger than 40 Years”. (2010): 4353-4359. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 April. 2011**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">This article focuses on the incidence of colorectal cancer in individuals 40 years of age and younger. It is based on the increasing amount of colorectal cancer before the age 50. Since cancer in the United States is considered to be low in younger individuals the screening for those individuals is underestimated resulting in a failure to diagnose colon polyps and as time passes it progresses into to colorectal cancer. This source sheds a light on people’s thoughts that colon cancer is an elderly disease and reveals the truth that it is not age specific hoping to make individuals more aware of its mortality if not diagnosed in time. The way the article is written can be somewhat confusing to an individual not familiar with some of the terminology so it seems more specialized. The study is done by doctors and seems that it is intended more for doctors or specialist in that area to interpret it. I do not feel that this material is what I am looking for, even though there is a lot of useful information towards the beginning, towards the middle it becomes lots of numbers and graphs and makes it somewhat uneasy to focus on the subject.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">**__Related Web Links__** **__<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">﻿<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">[|American Cancer Society] __** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">**__ [|National Cancer Institute] __** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">**__ [] __** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">**__ [] __** []