COLON CANCER IS HIGHLY PREVENTABLE

Colon Cancer

If you have a family history of colon cancer, your risk of developing this disease is higher – however, hereditary genetic mutations are not the only cause of colon cancer.
A person with no family history may still be affected by this disease.

Risk factors

Below are other factors which may increase the risk of colon cancer:

Older age. Colon cancer usually affects people over 50.
Other conditions. People with diabetes and chronic inflammatory conditions of the colon (for example: ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease) have a higher risk of developing colon cancer.
Low-fibre, high-fat diet. Some studies have shown that diets which are high in red or processed meat and low in fibres may increase the risk of colon cancer. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains play a role in cancer prevention.
A sedentary life-style. Doing regular physical activity may reduce your risk of developing colon cancer.
Obesity. Keeping your weight under control via a healthy diet and regular physical activity plays a great role in reducing the risk of colon cancer.
Smoking and alcohol. You may find helpful talking to your doctor on the options you have to quit smoking, if you do smoke. Alcohol intake should be kept under one unit a day.

Prevention

You can prevent colon cancer by ensuring that you get screened every year via faecal test – starting from the age of 45, or earlier if you have diabetes, inflammatory conditions of the colon or a family history of colon cancer. If the faecal test is positive, your doctor may refer you for a colonoscopy.

Colonoscopy helps detect polyps, which are abnormal growths in the colon or rectum. Polyps don’t give you any symptom but may become cancer if not removed.
Screening via colonoscopy can save your life, by detecting cancer at a very early stage – when it’s easier to treat.
When discovered at this stage, polyps can be removed.

Treatment

If colon cancer develops, there are several treatments available to control it.
These include surgery, chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

Did you know?

The risk of colon cancer increases after the age of 50, but sometimes it can develop at a younger age.

Interesting fact

Colon cancer has been diagnosed in the Egyptian mummy of a person that lived in the Ptolemaic period (305-30 BC). The diagnosis was done as part of a study trying to determine how frequent this disease was in antiquity. The study, carried out by Manchester’s Centre for Biomedical Egyptology, took into consideration human remains and animal fossils from as back as the prehistory, as well as literary evidence from ancient periods. The results of this study seems to indicate that this disease was extremely rare in ancient times. The study also suggests that the disease has become much more frequent in the modern era due not only to people living longer but especially to pollution, diet and lifestyle change factors.