What do you know about colon cancer?

A different approach to today’s blog. First, a quiz about a topic that we all just love to talk about: colon cancer. What? It’s not a top 10 topic? You’re right. It’s not. The problem is, it’s likely not in the top 100. We don’t talk about it.

Let’s see how much you know about colon cancer and the answers are at the end of the blog entry.

Ok, here we go:

1- The colon is:
a) The small intestine
b) The large intestine
c) The entire intestinal tract
d) A punctuation mark

2- The role of the colon is to: ___________

3- Name some of the risk factors for colon cancer:

4- Screening for colon cancer does not include:
a) Digital rectal exam
b) Blood test
c) Colonoscopy
d) Barium enema
e) Fecal blood test

5- Screening should begin at 65
True
False

6- Which of the following is not a symptom of colon cancer:
a) Diarrhea
b) Constipation
c) Nausea and/or vomiting
d) Feeling of needing to empty bowels constantly
e) Bright red blood in your stool
f) Dark blood in your stool
g) Oddly shaped, narrow stools
h) Cramping, gas pain
i) Bloating
j) Weight loss
k) Fatigue
l) They’re all symptoms

How do you think you did?

Colon cancer affects both men and women, most often after the age of 50 and is the third most common cancer in both. Prostate and lung cancers come before for men and breast and lung cancers for women. Even scarier: it is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.

Patient education published by the Centers of Disease Control states that up to 60% of colon cancer-related deaths could be avoided by proper colorectal cancer screening.

Now the answers:

1- The colon is the large intestine. The small intestine empties into the large intestine (or large bowel), which runs for about 4 or 5 feet.

2- The role of the colon is to pull out the nutrients and water from the food as it passes through. What remains is the waste that is eliminated as stool.

3- Name some of the risk factors for colon cancer:
Being over 50 years old
Having a history of colorectal polyps, Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis
Having a family history of colorectal cancer
Genetics
Diet – high fat, low fiber diets
Smoking

4- Screening for colon cancer doesn't include a blood test. A digital rectal exam can detect suspicious masses near the rectum, a colonoscopy looks into the colon and can remove polyps. A barium enema gives your doctor a view of the colon, but cannot remove any polyps. A fecal blood test is a simple test that checks for blood in your stool that might not be visible by the naked eye.

5- Screening should begin at 65
False – screening should begin at 50 for people who are not in a high-risk category. Earlier screening is recommended for those at high risk of developing colorectal cancer.

6- Which of the following is not a symptom of colon cancer:

They’re all symptoms.

So – how did you do?

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The Vitamin D Buzz

Vitamin D is all over the news. A new study has found that increased doses of daily vitamin D could decrease the chances of developing certain cancers, such as colorectal and breast cancers. In fact, they found a 60% of cancer incidence.

This led the Canadian Cancer Society to recommend that all Canadian adults take 1000 international units (UI) of vitamin D during the darker winter months. There has been a rush on vitamin D at the stores. The Montreal Gazette reported today that several city pharmacies were wiped out of their vitamin D supply. I don’t know, last time I checked, it’s June and sunny a good part of the day. A good *free* way to get vitamin D is to get it from the sun.

I take a regular multivitamin and there are 400 IU of vitamin D in the brand I take. I try to get out in the sun, walking the dog, gardening or sitting and reading the morning paper, and eat foods that have vitamin D in them. In the winter, I try to make a point of getting out on sunny days and expose my face to the sun for a bit, just for the sheer joy of feeling sunshine because I’m one of those people who has a hard time when the days are too grey.

Sunscreen has its place and I’m against the sun tanning that lots of people still do. I have blonde hair, very fair skin and green/yellow eyes. In other words, when I was a kid, I burned and burned and burned so many times, I couldn’t keep track. But, I also was never for the constant slathering of the highest SPF sunscreen available. We need the sun. For example, Canada has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the world. Northern countries have much higher rates than countries in the south, which don’t have the short grey days we have. Is it connected to the sun? No fool-proof connection has been made yet, but it sure sounds suspicious to me. The sun is vital and, like almost everything, we went way too far the other way, from worshipping the sun to being terrified of it. While skin cancer is frightening, we can prevent it without totally eliminating the sun from our lives. With my pale, easily burned skin, I still spent 45 minutes this morning outside in the sun gardening, without sunscreen. I made sure I was in and out of the shade and I never stayed in the sun for more than 5 minutes straight. If I go outside in the sun again today, I will put on sunscreen because my skin was exposed to enough sun today. But tomorrow, I’ll likely try to spend at least a half hour enjoying the sun.

And, in the winter, I’ll increase my dose of vitamin D to 1000 IU until the summer sun rolls around again.