We are all shocked and heartbroken. How could 43 years young Chadwick Boseman, Black Panther star, die from colorectal cancer (CRC)? There are so many questions. We at Heathshifter have been reading and listening to podcasts about this potentially deadly disease and wanted to share an empowering piece by Dr. Peter Attia. While Dr. Attia’s article takes a wonderful deep dive, he strongly believes CRC to be preventable. In fact he considers it to be ” the most preventable cancer mortality (maybe with the exception of lung cancer).” Here are some take aways:
- “Routine CRC screening is unanimously recommended by the American Cancer Society (ACS), the CDC, the National Cancer Institute, and the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) for average-risk persons aged 50 to 75. However, in May 2018, the ACS updated its CRC guidelines recommending regular screening beginning at age 45 for people at average risk.
- The US Multi-Society Task Force (USMSTF) on Colorectal Cancer suggests that for African American’s who are at average risk, testing should begin at age 45–5 years before patients of all other races, based upon higher overall incidence rates and younger mean age at onset of CRC.
- Dr. Attia recommends that average-risk individuals get a colonoscopy by age 40, but even sooner if they are at higher risk. Those risks includes “a family or personal history of colorectal cancer, a personal history of inflammatory bowel disease, and hereditary syndromes such as Lynch syndrome and familial adenomatous polyposis.” For patients with a family history of CRC that was diagnosed before the age of 60 in one first-degree relative or at any age in two first-degree relatives, screening is recommended to begin at an age 10 years younger than the youngest age at diagnosis of a first-degree relative, or age 40, to be repeated every 5 years.”
While there are several tests (stool, sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy), Dr. Attia’s opinion is “none of the other tests compare to a colonoscopy.” Of the top 5 deadliest cancers, “CRC is the only one we can look directly at since it grows outside of the body.” Dr. Attia explains how most CRC begin as polyps. While most remain small and harmless, others are pre-cancerous and can become cancerous. Catching this one early can make all the difference since a colonoscopy effectively allows the physican to eliminate it on the spot.
We don’t know the circumstances and history of Chadwick Boseman which ultimately lead to his very untimely death. At a minimum, Dr. Attia advises us to analyze several of the risks and benefits of a colonoscopy(costs, complications etc) and provides us with excellent questions to pose to the doctor. For a more in depth review of Dr. Attia’s post, click below.
https://peterattiamd.com/colorectal-cancer-screening/
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