TriVita Article: Colorectal Cancer – It’s Common and Very Curable In Its Early Stages

Should you be screened?
By Dr. Samuel N. Grief

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the United States and the second most common cause of cancer-related death. Leading healthcare professionals realize the importance of educating the public about this deadly disease and that is why March has been designated National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.

Understandably, the colon and rectum are neither glamorous nor easy topics to discuss with your healthcare provider. Nonetheless, it is extremely important that you or your provider bring this topic up during one of your next medical visits to ensure you will be properly
assessed and screened for any colorectal disease.

Why should I be screened for colorectal cancer?
Most colorectal cancers arise from pre-existing polyps. These polyps occur in approximately 30% of adults age 50 years and older and occur more commonly as we age. The goal of colorectal cancer screening is to identify early cancers and polyps in order to limit the spread of disease and save lives.

How often should I be screened?
Routine screening should occur on the following basis and by one or more of the following methods:

• Annual testing of your stool for hidden blood [also known as fecal occult blood test (FOBT)
• Flexible sigmoidoscopy every five years
• Colonoscopy every ten years

FOBT is the easiest to perform and can be done in the privacy of your own home. Application of a stool specimen to special testing cards on three consecutive days is the most common way of performing this test.

Flexible sigmoidoscopy is done at your doctor’s office and requires brief preparation with a stool cleanser or laxative. The instrument, a sigmoidoscope, is a short, flexible tube that uses a fiber optic light to see up to about 60 cm (about 2 feet) inside your rectum and colon. This procedure will not detect any disease within the colon above this distance. Most medical societies recommend combining flexible sigmoidoscopy with FOBT every five years to enhance screening.

Colonoscopy is the best test for identifying colon polyps. Medical authorities recognize this procedure as inherently the most risky, too.
While perforation of the colon may occur, it is quite rare. Also, most physicians performing this procedure place their patients under conscious sedation, meaning you will be awake but not truly alert. This may place you at increased risk for lung and heart complications if you have underlying lung and heart disease.

What can I do to prevent colorectal cancer?
There are several things that may lessen your risk for developing disease of the colon and rectum:

• Keep the weight off – many scientific studies confirm the association between obesity and risk for colorectal cancer.
• Lower your fat intake – less fat in one’s diet may decrease the risk for developing colon polyps, the precursor to cancer.
• Eat less red meat – there is some controversy here, but red meat has very little fiber and slows up the bowel function, allowing toxins to fester within your bowels. Additionally, one scientific study confirmed an association between red meat consumption and increased colon cancer in women.
• Increase your dietary fiber – fiber is great for your overall health and improves bowel function. However, it has not been scientifically-proven to lower your risk for colorectal cancer.
• Vitamin and mineral supplements – Vitamin D and calcium have been scientifically shown to help reduce the development of colon polyps. Calcium seems to be the strong partner here, but Vitamin D assists calcium absorption within the intestines. That’s why I recommend a calcium supplement for bone health and general well-being, especially as we age.
• Other medicines, such as aspirin or its cousins, are potentially useful to lower the risk for colorectal disease, but their side effects of bleeding and kidney and liver problems make them unsuitable for most people. Lastly, cholesterol-lowering medicines known as statins have also been found in several studies to have a link to lower risk for colorectal disease.

Call a Wellness Consultant at 1-800-991-7116 to make sure you are taking a quality Vitamin D supplement. TriVita offers two excellent choices: VitaCal-Mag D and Bone Builder.

Source: TriVita VitaJournal March 2009 pg 14.