Bowel cancer should be on your regular health check list from the age of 50, or even earlier in some cases, and screening is a simple and effective way to detect or even prevent the disease.

Bowel screening tests look for blood in your bowel movement – a common sign of bowel abnormality – that might be invisible to the naked eye. It’s a simple at home test that you should take at least every two years. It’s quick and easy and might just be the best thing you ever did.

The older you are, the greater your chance is of developing bowel cancer. Risk levels increase four-fold during your 40s and continue to rise sharply and progressively from the age of 50.

People with a family history of bowel cancer or polyps may have a higher than average risk of developing bowel cancer. If you have a history of the disease in your family you should speak to your GP about the screening method best suited to you.

Bowel cancer doesn’t have to be a death sentence, but you do have to catch it early, when it can be easily treated.

Click here for more information on bowel screening and how to get hold of a test.