How to lower your risk of colorectal cancer

Eat more fibre: whole grains, beans, fruit and vegetables. Eat less red and processed meat. Stay active and keep a healthy weight. Avoid tobacco and limit alcohol. Screen from 45, because removing polyps found at colonoscopy stops many cancers from forming.

Not always. Some risk factors, such as age and family history, cannot be changed, so finding problems early through checks matters as much as healthy habits.

Age, especially from 45. A parent, brother, sister or child with bowel cancer or polyps. Inherited conditions such as Lynch syndrome or familial adenomatous polyposis.

Signs worth checking include a change in your usual bowel habit that lasts, such as looser stools or constipation; blood in the stool, red or black, or bleeding from the bottom; a feeling of needing to go even after you have been; and stomach pain, a lump or bloating.

Knowing your own risk factors is the first step. The colorectal cancer risk assessment asks about 33 questions: family history of bowel cancer or polyps, inherited conditions such as Lynch syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, diet, lifestyle and past stool tests or colonoscopies. It tells you whether a stool test or colonoscopy is due. It costs KES 300. A care navigator calls you back within 2 hours (Monday to Saturday, 8am to 8pm) to book what you need at a facility that suits your budget and location.