Colorectal Cancer
Transcript: Colorectal cancer is also known as "colon cancer"and "bowel cancer" Colorectal cancer is the second leading cancer for men and women over 50. 655,000 people die from it per year in the world. Colorectal cancer affects your colon, rectum and appendix. Colon is part of your digestive system and is where your waste is stored, the rectum is the end of your colon adjacent to the anus and they form the 'large intestine' or 'large bowel.' Tumors are growths formed from the inner wall of your large intestine. There are two types of tumors, benign and cancerous if you do not remove your benign tumor over time it will become cancerous. This picture show's how the cancer grows over time and what the affects are. The symptoms depend if the cancer has metastasised to other parts of the body or is still in the colon wall. There are three types: Local (stays in the same area) Constitutional (spread to the whole body) Metastatic (spread to other organs). Local: Most likely to occur if the tumor is closer to the anus. A change in bowel habit may occur, as well as incomplete bowel procedure, diarreah and possibly bleeding from bowel movements-a sure sign of colon-rectal cancer. If the tumor blocks off bowel movement, then abdominal pain, vomiting and constipation follow. Constitutional: f the colon rectal tumor spreads, pale skin, a loss of appetite and weight and fatigue can occur. Factors that lead to this particular type of cancer is, Overeating (i.e. high calorie intake), diets high in meat and sedentary are likely to increase the risk of colon rectal cancer A person with a healthy body weight, physical fitness and good nutrition decreases the risk in general. Lifestyle changes, accordingly, can decrease the risk of colon rectal cancer by as much as 60-80%. A rich fiber diet does NOT decrease the risk of colon rectal cancer. Cures/surveillance and prevention methods: Surveillance for this disease is taken through colonoscopy, which searches for tumors in the colon wall. This treatment could decrease the chance of death by greater then 80%, provided that this treatment is started before the patient has reached the age of 50 and the procedure is repeated every 5 to 10 years. Cures for this disease are many, but the most common are improved lifestyle and the use of chemotherapy agents through dieting, as well as increased surveillance. Other cures and prevention of colonrectal cancer include chemoprevention, calcium, aspirin taking at slow pace and Vitamin D. All these , especially Vitamin D, help decrease the risk of colon rectal cancer in the body. Survivors story Just two years ago, cancer and colons and calendars were the furthest thing from Smith's mind. She was in good health, with no sign anything was amiss until a night in August 2008.As she prepared for bed, Smith said she went to the bathroom and blood started inexplicably flowing out of her rectum.Smith was terrified, called her mother at 11 p.m. and described what had happened. Her mother, a nurse, suggested it could be a hemorrhoid or abrasion but urged her daughter to visit her personal physician as soon as possible.The next day, Smith's doctor found no immediate reason for the bleeding and more detailed examination by a specialist was recommended. A colonoscopy performed two months later revealed the cause: Smith had Stage 3C colon cancer.According to the National Cancer Institute, Stage 3C cancer is extremely serious, where the cancer has spread to the outermost layer of the colon but has not yet reached nearby organs.Within weeks, Smith had cancerous portions of her colon removed during a surgery at Rush-Copley Medical Center. Seven months of chemotherapy began two weeks later along with follow-up exams and careful monitoring.Her latest colonoscopy and examination last week showed hopeful results."It was totally clear, everything was clear," she said. "I saw my oncologist the same day and he said my blood work looked great, there was nothing going on. He's confident that I'm still in remission." Colorectal Cancer