Like many other cancers, the unfortunate reality of colon cancer symptoms is that there usually are none until you’re dead. This #3 killer preys on both men and women equally, causing more than 49,000 deaths each year. Many people are embarrassed to request a screening or admit to colon cancer symptoms, but this type of cancer is highly curable if detected in the earliest stages. In reality, the tests are unpleasant but pale in comparison to the pain of cancer. Do not wait for the symptoms to deliver you a death sentence; get screened, exercise, eat healthy and enjoy your long, happy life.
According to the American Cancer Society, the leading causes of colon cancer include colon polyps, cancer elsewhere in the body, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, a history of breast cancer or a family history of colon cancer. Researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Center and John Hopkins Medical Center have identified a genetic link for colon cancer, which is a defect in glycosylation enzymes. Other contributing factors include a poor diet (high-fat, low-fiber, red meat-filled diets) and smoking cigarettes. Also, 90% of those who have colon cancer are over 50, which is when screening should begin.
Some of colon cancer symptoms arrive as abdominal pain in the lower abdomen, bloody stools, diarrhea, constipation, irregular bowel movements, narrow stools, anemia and sudden weight loss. However, colon cancer can be detected before symptoms even occur, when it is usually curable. Some colon cancer screening tests include a sigmoidoscopy, a fecal occult blood test, a fecal DNA test, a virtual colonoscopy and a standard colonoscopy. The American Cancer Society recommends beginning these tests at age 50, since 90% of colon cancer is identified after this age.
If treatment of colon cancer symptoms is not sought, then the ramifications can be fatal. Metastatic colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death among men and women in the United States, following breast/prostate cancer and lung cancer. What begins as harmless abnormal cells called polyps can develop over the years into cancerous lymph nodes and tumors that travel throughout the body, spreading to other tissues and organs, killing the host. Even if preliminary cancer is detected and removed, there is some chance of a colon cancer recurrence, so screenings will need to be done every few years.