Preventing Colon Cancer
Every year, more and more people are being afflicted with colon cancer. Colon cancer is considered the third deadliest type of cancer in the United States these days, with almost 150,00 individuals reported to have the disease every year. Colon cancer claims lives of more than 50,000 people every year.
While colon cancer can be deadly, the good news is that we can always reduce your chances of getting afflicted with it. Controlling risk factors is important to lessen the probability of you getting this disease. How can then you reduce your risks of colon cancer? Here are some few tips.
You should loser weight. Obesity has been linked to colon cancer, and for good reason. There are a lot of studies suggesting that obese individual have greater risks of getting colon cancer. Men who have body mass index of more than 30 have been proven to have a greater risk of getting colon cancer. Abdominal obesity is also considered as a risk factor of colon cancer.
Then, you should always have yourself screened regularly. Attend regular colon cancer screenings so that you can get yourself diagnosed for symptoms of the disease as early as possible. It is important to be screened for possible affliction of colon cancer because it is hard to cure the disease during its latter stages. Once the physicians detect the colon cancer in its early stage, it reduces significantly your chances of further developing the disease.
Then, you should know that age is a factor in getting colon cancer. An estimated 90% of colon cancer patients are aged 50 and above. What is more intriguing is that a large part of these cases are not linked to other risks. Thus those who are 50 and above should always attend colon cancer screenings so that they can be diagnosed and treated early for the disease.
Eating a well balanced and healthy diet can also help in reducing risks of colon cancer. Your diet should be free from fat, high cholesterol, and low fiber. Consider eating fruits and vegetables and whole grain foods.
You should also stop smoking. Cigarettes are known to have carcinogenic chemicals that are linked to cancer. Smoking can increase the sizes of the polyps that build on the colon, particularly adenomatous polyps which are considered the dangerous type. The larger that these polyps grow, the larger are your chances of getting colon cancer.
