If I don't take aspirin, what else can I do to lower my chance of bowel cancer?
Apart from taking aspirin, there are other things you can do to help lower your chance of bowel cancer:
- Having a diet low in red and processed meat
- Having a diet high in fibre
- Drinking no or small amounts of alcohol, particularly avoiding having large amounts regularly
- Not smoking
- Being physically active
- Being a healthy weight
There is another session on the website that gives advice about how you can start to do these things if you would like to.
There is not yet enough evidence about how much these changes will lower your chance of bowel cancer in people who have Lynch syndrome. Most of the evidence is in the general population.
In addition, there are some other things that affect your chance of bowel cancer which can’t be changed. These are:
Age: You can look at this graph to see how the chance of getting bowel cancer changes for people with Lynch syndrome with age. Please remember that this graph does not compare your chances of cancer with the general population. Also, the graph includes some cancers that people with Lynch syndrome are not at a higher risk of than the general population.
You may have a higher chance of getting bowel cancer if you:
- Have a family history of bowel cancer
- Have a history of non-cancerous growths, also called polyps, in your bowel
- Have longstanding inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis
- Have Type 2 diabetes
If you want to read more about what can affect your chance of bowel cancer, click here.
This information is based on content supplied by Bowel Cancer UK, Cancer Research UK and the NHS website, edited by the Lynch Choices team.