Staff Writer
Scott Walden had few resources to turn to when he was diagnosed at age 38 with colon cancer that had already spread in his body. A benefit concert Saturday aims to help younger colon cancer patients and raise awareness that it can affect younger people.
Walden, a father of two, died in 2010 just a few weeks before the first benefit concert in his honor and his friends and family later organized a foundation in his memory. The 3rd Annual Shine for Scott Benefit Concert will be held at Laura?s Backyard Tavern, 218 South Belair Road in Martinez. The doors will open at 1 p.m. and the music will begin at 2 p.m. with a number of local and regional bands. Tickets are $10 and children 12 and under are admitted free.
Since its inception, the Shine For Scott Inc. foundation has helped younger colon cancer patients, held educational workshops and is donating $4,400 for research into colon cancer, said President Maggie Pritchard. Through improved screening and the removal of precancerous polyps, rates of colorectal cancer have been steadily declining in the U.S. since 1998, according to the American Cancer Society. But in those under age 50, the rates have actually been increasing slightly, from a little more than 8 per 100,000 in 1994 to more than 10 per 100,000 in 2007, according to the cancer society.
?It?s a small percentage but it is going up in the under 50 age group,? Pritchard said.
Screening is generally not recommended for those under age 50 so there is a lack of preventive screening in younger people who might be at increased risk of colon cancer. Overweight or obesity is also associated with higher risk for colorectal cancer, according to the cancer society. While she doesn?t have scientific evidence for it, Pritchard believes that might be part of the reason for the increase in younger patients.
?We obviously have a weight problem in this country,? she said. ?It makes sense to me if that issue is also leading to increases in colorectal cancer in the under 50 group. I think there are many factors contributing to it.?
A diet high in red meat or processed meat has also been shown to increase the risk for colorectal cancer while high levels of physical activity have been shown to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by as much as 50 percent, according to the cancer society. Even with declining overall rates, an estimated 103,170 people will get colon cancer this year and 51,690 will die from it, including 4,090 cases in Georgia with 1,470 deaths, according to the cancer society.
?I think due to our diet and our lifestyle, if we have that history then we have a higher chance of it developing younger,? Pritchard said.
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