The 12 Best Ways to Prevent Colorectal Cancer
Know your family history
Heredity plays a big role in colon cancer; up to 20% of people who develop colorectal cancer have a relative with the disease. You should find out if your relatives had colorectal cancer or polyps, which are growths in the colon or rectum that can be precursors of the disease.
And it's important to find out how old they were when they were diagnosed.
If one of your first-degree relatives (a parent, sibling, or child) developed colorectal cancer or polyps before age 60 or more than one of your first-degree relatives did at any age, you should start getting screened for the disease at age 40, or 10 years before the age at which that relative was diagnosed, whichever comes first.
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