I eat a healthy diet so why would I have bowel cancer?
There are things that we can change in order to reduce the risk of getting bowel cancer and eating a healthy diet is one of them. Unfortunately there are other risks that we cannot influence, such as a family history of cancer, a genetic predisposition to cancer, increased age, or a history of polyps or inflammatory bowel disease (such as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis).
Eight out of ten people who get bowel cancer are over the age of sixty, so the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme is aimed at people aged 60 and over.
Back to frequently asked questions
- NHS BCSP home page
- Programme publications
- About bowel screening
- Why screen for bowel cancer?
- What is the purpose of bowel cancer screening?
- How is the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme organised?
- Who is eligible for bowel cancer screening?
- Age extension to bowel cancer screening
- How are GPs involved in bowel cancer screening?
- How much does bowel screening cost?
- How does the screening process work?
- What does my bowel cancer screening result mean?
- How does the FOB test work?
- What is a colonoscopy?
- What are the risks of colonoscopy?
- More information about the
screening programme- Who does what in the NHS BCSP?
- List of hubs and screening centres
- NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Evaluation Group
- Bowel cancer
- GP Pack (Information for primary care)
- NHS bowel cancer training centres in England
- The English Bowel Screening Pilot
- Evaluation of English Bowel Screening Pilot
- Evaluation of the second round of the English Bowel Screening Pilot
- Use of patient information
- Frequently asked questions
- Flexible sigmoidoscopy
- Programme news index
- Research in bowel cancer screening
- Useful links