Plymouth Family Physicians

March 2006 NEWSLETTER

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

MARCH IS COLORECTAL CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

The colon and rectum are part of the large intestine, which is part of the digestive system. Food begins in the mouth where we chew and the saliva helps the food break down more so it will go down the esophagus. The esophagus is a tube about 10 inches long and connects to the stomach. There are muscles in the esophagus that help move the food down to the stomach.

Once in the stomach enzymes break down the food into even smaller bits. There are even more powerful muscles in the stomach that churn up the food until it is liquid. This liquid then moves into the small intestine.

The small intestine is about 22 feet long. In the small intestine juices from the pancreas, liver and gallbladder mix together and the food particles get even smaller. This is where all the vitamins and nutrients from food move through the blood vessels that are in the lining of the small intestine. The blood takes the nutrients to other organs in the body and uses them to help repair cells and tissue.

Whatever is left over then moves into the colon, which is 5 feet long. Most of the water is absorbed through the colon. Bacteria in the colon break down the remaining material. The left over material then moves to the rectum .

The rectum is the storage holder for the waste. The muscles in the rectum move the waste or stool out of the body through the anus.

It is important to keep your colon healthy by eating a low-calorie, high-fiber diet that includes fruits and vegetables. If your colon and rectum aren’t working properly you will experience problems with bloating, gas and constipation or diarrhea.

You should remember that colon cancer is preventable, treatable and often curable. The number of cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed each year and the death rates are declining. This is probably due to the fact that more people are getting screened regularly. Regular screening may detect precancerous polyps. Removing these can prevent cancer from developing. When detected and treated early, the five-year survival rate for colorectal cancer is over 90 percent.

Men and women who are average risk should be screened regularly starting at age 50. High risk men and women, (personal or family history), should be tested earlier. There are 3 main tests our office recommends. First is the fecal occult blood test. This is a test you can do in the privacy of your own home. We give you a test kit called a Hemoccult kit and you take it home with you and collect stool samples and put a small portion of those samples on the test cards. Then you send it back to our office and we put some special liquid on each of the samples. If the samples change color it means there is blood in your stool. If no blood is in your stool you do the test again in a year.

The second test is called flexible sigmoidoscopy. This is usually done as an outpatient in the hospital. Before the test you need to clean out your bowel so you may get some laxatives or enemas to do this. When you get to the hospital a tube called a sigmoidoscope is put into the anus and slowly moved into the rectum and lower part of the colon. The doctor can view the area through an eyepiece or he/she may be able to see the picture on a TV screen. If the doctor sees a polyp or an area that needs further testing he/she might take a biopsy. If the biopsy detects a type of polyp that may cause cancer you may be sent for a colonoscopy. This test should be done every 5 years.

The third test is the colonoscopy. Much like the flexible sigmoidoscopy, the colonoscope goes even further into your large intestine. The advantage of this is that any polyps can be completely removed at the time of the colonoscopy whereas the sigmoidoscopy only allows the doctor to take a biopsy, which is just a tiny part of the polyp. Because most cancers begin as polyps, removing them is an important way to prevent colon cancer. You need to clean your colon out prior to this procedure also. When you arrive at the hospital you will get a sedative to help you relax. The test itself takes just 15- 30 minutes but plan to be there a total of 3 hours for preparation and recovery. This test should be done every 10 years.

A new test is available in some parts of the country. This is called virtual colonoscopy and it uses computers in a CT scan to create three-dimensional pictures of the colon. Researchers in Illinois and Minnesota are looking for volunteers to take part in a study to see if there is any difference in testing results between a conventional colonoscopy and the virtual colonoscopy. They have volunteers get a regular colonoscopy in their community, which is billed to their insurance. Then the patient also has the virtual colonoscopy done, through one of the research facilities, at no cost to the patient or their insurance. There are two places in Illinois and one in Minnesota that are participating in the study. Mayo Clinic in Rochester is the site for Minnesota. The University of Chicago Hospital in Chicago is the closest site in Illinois. For more information about this study visit the American College of Radiology Imaging Network web site at www.acrin.org.

For more information about colon cancer you can visit these sites:

Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation
www.preventcancer.org/colorectal

American Cancer Society
www.cancer.org

Center for Disease Control
www.cdc.gov

Back to the top

BOOSTER SEATS

Last month we gave you information about having your child’s safety seats properly installed and inspected. Since then it looks like Governor Doyle passed a new law that mandates children up to 80 pounds be in a booster seat.

Booster seats allow your child to sit higher in the vehicle to allow the shoulder strap to be placed properly across the child’s shoulder. Studies show that booster seats are significantly better than lap-shoulder belts alone at protecting children 4-7 years of age in a crash. Booster seats reduce risk of injury by 59% vs. seat belt use alone. More serious neck, abdomen and lower spine injuries are even more significantly prevented.

For more information you can visit the web site of The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at www.nhtsa.dot.gov.

Back to the top

Past Newsletters

Back to the top