Radio Shows | Colon Cancer | mp3 … wma … wav

In our shows we talk about all kinds of diseases and their impact on patients but nothing hits home like someone you know getting sick and dying.

It’s true, and for us that’s Cathy Forsythe. Cathy was general manager of one of our radio partners - KACC in Alvin, Texas. She recently passed away after a courageous battle against colon cancer… and this episode is dedicated to her.

According the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the US. 112-thousand people are diagnosed yearly. The upside is early diagnosis can lead to complete cure.

Most colon cancers start in the cells that line the large intestine. Those cells turn over rapidly which means they must reproduce their DNA at a high rate. That provides opportunity for genetic information to suffer mutations. Unrepaired – the mutated cells will continue to divide which can lead to a tumor.

The earliest identifiable stage of colon cancer is called carcinoma in situ. Some of you may even have had this. You know it as adenomatous polyps or simply polyps. They come in different sizes and can be mushroom shaped or flat. A colonoscopy would remove these clumps of cells, but left alone they can mutate further, become cancerous and later spread to other parts of the body.

Some risk factors for colon cancer are age, a history of polyps, ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

Diets rich in fat, red and processed meat can also increase the risk along with a sedentary lifestyle, diabetes, obesity, smoking, and alcohol.

The symptoms include diarrhea, constipation, blood in the stool, unexplained anemia, abdominal pain, unexplained weight loss and narrow stools. But don’t wait. If you’re over fifty like we are, start getting screenings. Don’t be embarrassed because a colonoscopy can save your life.