Searches for advice on bowel cancer screening have significantly increased following the death of TV news presenter George Alagiah.
Visits to the “bowel cancer screening” page on the NHS website last week saw a 243 per cent increase compared to the week before, NHS England said.
The day it was announced that the presenter had died aged 67 there were over 11,000 visits to the pages.
He was first diagnosed with stage four, or advanced, bowel cancer in 2014.
A top cancer doctor said that the news of Alagiah’s death “has made many of us reflect on our own health”.
“The news of George Alagiah’s death has affected thousands across the country who will have watched him on the television, and has made many of us reflect on our own health,” said Prof Peter Johnson, NHS England’s national clinical director for cancer.
“These increased visits to NHS England web pages are a positive sign, because educating yourself about what symptoms and risk factors there are for bowel cancer is extremely important, as the earlier it is found, the more treatable it is.”
Prof Johnson urged people to come forward for checks, particularly if they have blood in their stool, a change in bowel habits such as needing to go more often or suffering the runs, or pain and bloating. These are the three main symptoms of bowel cancer.
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A loss of appetite may also occur, or significant unintentional weight loss.
Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK and leads to around 16,800 deaths every year.
More than nine out of 10 cases of bowel cancer develop in older adults over the age of 50, and nearly six in 10 are in people aged 70 or older.
“We have seen a spike in the number of people visiting bowelcanceruk.org.uk, with thousands more people seeking information about the disease in recent days,” said Dr Lisa Wilde, director of research and external affairs at Bowel Cancer UK.
“There has also been more people affected by bowel cancer posting on our forum and contacting our Ask the Nurse service.
“Almost 43,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year in the UK.
“When George Alagiah was diagnosed in 2014, he spoke openly about the condition and the importance of screening.
“Taking part in bowel cancer screening can often find the cancer before symptoms develop, when it’s much easier to treat.
“Quite simply, screening could save your life and we would encourage everyone who is eligible to complete the test when they receive it.”
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Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
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