Prevention of Colorectal Cancer


by Groshan Fabiola - Date: 2007-02-26 - Word Count: 411 Share This!

The colon and rectum is a part of the large intestine and their functions are to absorb water and nutrients from food this way concentrating the stool, and to form and store the stool until its evacuation.

Cancer is an affection which interferes in the process of cell division and makes the cells divide chaotically, leading to a mass of abnormal cells that forms a tumor. Colorectal cancer is the disease that affects the cells from the colon and rectum creating a malign or benign tumor.

Colorectal cancer can evolve until it spreads to other organs like lungs, bones and liver, building tumors over there too. Tumors take food and oxygen from the other healthy cells and in the end they take their space.

Scientists have declared that in US 1 of 17 people are at risk of developing colorectal cancer, and the most affected ones are men.

In the whole world, colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer in males and the fourth in women. It is quite rare in Asia and Africa but you can find it frequently in the Western world. Those who have adopted western diets are at risk to develop colorectal cancer.

Most of the colon cancers are adenocarcinomas, meaning that they come from polyps situated inside the intestines.

These polyps are benign at first but left untreated for several years they will end up transforming into malign polyps and cause cancer.

This adenomatous polyposis syndrome is found in the same family members, so it has a genetic base. There is a type of nonpolyposis colorectal cancer syndrome which also occurs in the same family members but now people who are at risk can be identified through genetic screening.

By finding these cancer sensible people doctors can council them and program them for regular screening in order to prevent cancer from occurring.

People who suffer of Crohn disease or who have had breast or uterine cancer and a family history of colon cancer are at risk of developing colorectal cancer too.

Scientists have not found out exactly why this disease occurs but they believe that if you are obese and you follow a diet that is rich in proteins and fats and low in fiber you might develop cancer
Drinking alcohol is also a factor that leads to cancer.

Until now scientists believe that estrogen replacement therapy and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer.

For greater resources on colon cancer or especially about metastatic colon cancer please visit this link http://www.colon-cancer-center.com/metastatic-colon-cancer.htm


Related Tags: colon cancer, metastatic colon cancer

For greater resources on colon cancer or especially about metastatic colon cancer please visit this link http://www.colon-cancer-center.com/metastatic-colon-cancer.htm

Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles

© The article above is copyrighted by it's author. You're allowed to distribute this work according to the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs license.
 

Recent articles in this category:



Most viewed articles in this category: