Thursday 10 March 2011

Effective Colon Cancer Prevention Methods

With the advent of many types of illnesses and diseases, the medical field is continuously on the search for new ways in treating them. Because of the advanced technology that the world offers, it is possible to come up with treatment options and procedures that are high tech and very effective.
Cancer is not a new subject. In fact, millions of people are diagnosed with cancer every year and the number is still increasing. This is a typical scenario that if you try to look at it more carefully, you will soon realize that what this world needs is preventive measures in order to stay away from the disease.
Many people are now familiar with colon cancer. In fact in the United States, this is third among the most common occurring cancer that is often the cause of death in the nation. But since the number of colon cancer patients is still increasing, it only means that many people are still unaware of the dreaded disease.
How do you get it? If you want to understand things a lot better, you need to know the importance of the colon. The colon is part of the intestines, particularly the large intestine. The function of the large intestine is to absorb the water found in the undigested foods. If it doesn't function properly, then it can cause certain abnormalities and eventually colon cancer.
It is often called colorectal cancer. This is the malignancy of your large intestine and can transpire in the different segments of your colon but it often occurs closest to your rectum and that is sigmoid colon.
According to the ACS (American Cancer Society), over 94,000 people are diagnosed with colon cancer every year and around 48,000 of them die of the disease. In Canada, around 17,000 people are diagnosed with colon cancer each year and about 6,400 of them die of the disease.
The numbers involved in colon cancer is really huge so there is a need to increase the awareness of the people about colon cancer.
So how can you prevent colon cancer?
Your lifestyle is greatly involved in preventing colon cancer. First, you should check your daily diet. What are the foods that you usually eat everyday? If your diet consists largely of red meat and is very low in fiber, then your colon will be bound to suffer. If you're not that sure about the right kinds of food to eat, you can consult your doctor or dietician. He or she can provide you with a list of foods that you can eat in order to have a healthy colon.
Most doctors will recommend a high fiber diet that consists largely of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and many more. Of course you can still eat red meat but the amount should be limited. You don't have to change immediately because changing old habits is really hard. But if you don't want to get colon cancer, this is the best time to make the change. You can do it gradually and the effects are really worth it over the long term.

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