Personal Injury Law

March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month

By Jane Akre

Timing is everything.

March is colon cancer awareness month. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. and the third most common cancer in men and women.  

The American Cancer Society estimates every year about 50,000 in the U.S. die from colorectal cancer.

The drop in the death rate over the last 15 years is at least partially attributed to an increase in screening as colorectal cancer is about 90 percent curable if caught in the early stages. 

Colorectal exams, the focus of the controversy at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada should be done every 10 years, while a fecal occult blood testing should be done every year.

Dr. William Harb, tells the Tennessean that as colon and rectal surgeon he operates on people who have colon and rectal cancer every day.

"Almost without fail, the patients I treat for colorectal cancer have never "I see people suffer daily with a disease they don't have to have. I see the look in their eyes when they realize it could have been prevented," he writes in the newspaper.

Dr. Harb doesn't want people to stop getting colon screenings because of the shoddy clinic practices that are in the news.

Dr. Harb says he watched his beloved grandfather die of colon cancer.  While it was killing his grandfather, it was killing him. He was 12 years old.  Then three others in his family also got colon cancer. 

The Nevada Cancer Institute is a research institute that lists the warning signs as well as who should be tested.

Consuming more than a pound of red meat a week can significantly increase your risk of colon cancer.

The American Cancer Society says prevention is now the focus of the month. The ACS just added two new tests to check for colon cancer, including a stool DNA test.  #

Full post as published by InjuryBoard on March 11, 2008 (boomark / email).