Showing posts with label Colon Cancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colon Cancer. Show all posts

Friday, December 3, 2010

What Are The Facts About Colon Cancer?

Around the world, colon cancer has been know as one of the huge cause of death, and it is only wise to be equipped with some of the colon cancer facts.

Colorectal cancer is a disease originating from the epithelial cells lining the colon or rectum of the GI tract . Some of these are acquired and some are inherited . More often than not, it takes a lot of time to cultivate and it gives us more time to detect it early to have a great large opportunity for treatment.

Colon cancer facts say that more than one-third of colorectal deaths could be prevented if people over 50 years old had regular screening tests .

One of the colon cancer facts also reveals that most cancer of this type begin as polyps (these are the growths on the inner wall of the colon or rectum) .

Because people who have polyps or colorectal cancers do not manifest the symptoms at the early stage, screening tests are vital for the treatment to work at its peak upon early findings.

Colon cancer facts include that colon cancer is one of the most curable cancers . Through screening test, pre-cancerous polyps can be removed before they turn into cancer .

One of the colon cancer facts is that the risk increases as we age and both genders are at risks .

Colon cancer facts explains that its cancer cells spread outside the colon or rectum, cancer cells are often found close to lymph nodes . And once they reached these nodes, they may have also spread to other lymph nodes and other vital organs in our body .

An ongoing infection in your body may be manifested by the unusual enlargement of lymph nodes.

Colon cancer facts count the cancer of this type to be not contagious . To use research as the basis, people with certain risk factors are more likely to develop this disease from others .

These are only some of the colon cancer facts . But there is no better way than consulting a doctor and undergo screening tests for you to determine if your colon cancer exists or not .

How to Prevent Colon Cancer?

From the large rate of mortality emerging from colon cancer disease, people have to pay attention of the preventive measure that would less likely cause a colon cancer.


In order for us to get ahead with the colon cancer, it is advisable to know some of the colon cancer prevention to give us the idea what to do in the right time .


One of the most basic part of colon cancer prevention is screening. You may decrease the probability of progressing into colon cancer by undergoing colonoscopy procedure if you think that you already have the signs of having polyps.


Screening test from colon cancer prevention consists Fecal Occult Blood Test, where stool samples are checked for signs of cancer and Flexible Sigmoidoscopy much more like the same for colonoscopy only that the viewing tube is shorter so the Doctor to only look at the last part of the colon .


There is also this Computed Tomographic Colonography as part of the colon cancer prevention, in which it makes a detailed picture of the colon to make the Doctor look for polyps .



With this diagnostic procedures, colon cancer prevention needs you to have self-discipline and help in your part. Smoking cessation, keeping an active lifestyle, and maintaining a healthy diet contributes to your health and decrease the occurence of other risk factors .


If you are having trouble over having the proper diet, a suggestion includes having five servings of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains a day or fiber, calcium and folic acid .


Decrease the intake of red meat, saturated fat and alcohol as much as possible . Include exercise in your daily routine for at least half an hour and reduce radiation exposure, this is also a part of the cause of developing colon cancer .


The concern for colon cancer disease made the society vulnerable, that it helped them research on introducing a vaccine that is designed to ramp up the immune system to recognize abnormalities and initiate attack .


Along with the awareness over this colon cancer prevention and precautions, setting up an appointment to your Doctor is still the best way to identify the colon cancer probability for you and your family.

The Way To Treat Your Colon Cancer

For the benefit of the patients who wants to have and early therapy decision as soon as possible, different treatments for colon cancer have been classified correspondingly

There are three standard treatments which includes surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy

The most common care is surgery colon cancer treatment . A Doctor will use Colonoscope procedure,(a thin tube-like instrument with a light and lens for viewing), it will not require the cutting of abdominal wall, instead, a tube is inserted into the rectum up to the colon and cut the cancer out, if the cancer has been found out at its early stage.

Resection of the primary tumor is still offered in order to reduce morbidity caused by tumor bleeding in case of multiple metastases (spread of cancer) .

Chemotherapy colon cancer treatment is one way to help kill the cancer cells . It is applied to reduce the tumor size, delay tumor growth and decrease the likelihood of metastasis development. It is regularly implemented after surgery, before surgery, and has been the options for many as primary treatment .

For patients who have received after surgery chemotherapy colon cancer treatment, they usually survived longer and go for extended periods of time without recurrence of colon cancer than patients who undergone the surgery alone .

Colon cancer treatment of this type use anti-cancer drug to kill cancer cells . It can be taken by mouth, or by inserting a needle into a vein or a muscle of the body . There is also a systemic type of chemotherapy where the drugs enter the bloodstream and kill cancer cells throughout the body .

Radiation therapy is the type of colon cancer treatment that is rarely used because of its complication to identify specific areas of the colon. This is applied to cure colon cancer pain as it targets metastatic tumor deposits and treat pain .

Being diagnosed with cancer results a huge change from the person's psychological being . With these therapies, support resources can be accessed from hospitals and other agencies that offer counseling and cancer support groups that will help the patient cope with his medical state to other part of his life .

Getting to Know The Symptoms of Colon Cancer

Colon Cancer is also named by the Medical Society as Colorectal Cancer or Large Bowel Cancer. It is known to be second-most common cancer death in the United States and third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the Western World .

The risk generally increases as adults get older . The importance of understanding the colon cancer symptoms will help you work with your Doctor on planning you long-term health plan because they are usually not obvious.

Rectal bleeding or pain, change in a regular habit, unexplained anemia, weight loss, bright red or dark red blood in the stools, and occurrence of abdominal pain are those that includes in the list of colon cancer symptoms .

A change in the bowel habit is the onset of diarrhea and constipation in the absence of another cause, and a feeling of incomplete defecation, or a reduction in the diameter of stool .

The increased presence of mucus comes with colon cancer, because of this, the passage of bright red stool in colon cancer symptoms may indicate lower gastrointestinal bleeding.

On the other hand, upper gastrointestinal bleeding brings out Melena or black tarry stools that is sometimes encountered in colon cancer when it is located at the beginning of the large bowel .

There is a possibility of the presence of tumor in colon cancer symptoms and if it cause chronic bleeding, iron deficiency anemia and weight loss will be manifested . This is reflected by fatigue, palpitation, pale appearance of the skin and decreased appetite .

The reduction in the diameter of the stool in colon cancer symptoms gives us an insight to what may be going on in our bowel . Thin or ribbon-like stools can indicate that there may be an obstruction or something that is blocking the stool .

Colon cancer follows you discreetly and have you alarmed if it already reached the critical stage.

Make an appointment with your Doctor right away if you experienced any of these colon cancer symptoms for any length of time to discuss your concerns and let them take your medical history, the necessary tests and schedule for a follow up to get to the bottom of your symptoms .

Colon Cancer Surgeries At A Glance

Colon cancer surgery is the most widespread treatment for colorectal cancer when its prevalence and treatments are out of control.

When we say surgery, it doesn't have to be seen as an aggressive approach . Colon cancer surgery is a local therapy that cures the cancer in the colon or rectum, and the area close to the tumor .

Larger cancer requires an incision into the abdomen to remove the tumor and part of the healthy colon or rectum while a small malignant polyp may be detached from the colon or upper rectum with the aid of a colonoscope.

When the lymph nodes are removed, the Doctor checks the rest of the intestines to see if the cancer has spread .

What are we expecting for a colon cancer surgery? . Colon cancer surgery is usually the major suggestion in rehabilitating colon cancer. It helps your Doctor analyze the degree of your disease .

One of the common types of colon cancer surgery is Colectomy . It includes removing a part of your colon and as many infected lymph nodes as possible . To make one long tube again, the colon is reattached .

Colostomy from colon cancer surgery is when the tumor is large enough and blocks your colon completely . In order for the surgeon to attach a bag for your stool to pass, Colectomy before Colostomy is done first and instead of reconnecting the ends of your colon, the surgeon will have an opening in your mid-section part of the abdomen.

It is prone to infection that is why colostomy needs to be looked after . You will be provided of training from the nurse on how to take care of it so you can do this on your own . It could be scary at first, but you'll get used to it over time .

The Doctor will determine what kind of colon cancer surgery is recommended for you . Before you decide over which, understand the risks, side effects and post-operation procedures to manage the timeframe of recovery for you . Follow them so to decrease post-op complications and speed up the healing process .

 
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