Patients who receive a diagnosis of colon cancer quickly become depressed and have a lot of unanswered questions about their future. The most important thing for them to realize is that they are not alone and that their friends and family are there to provide love and support.
When dealing with any type of illness, including colon cancer, family and friends are the first thought of a positive support system. Understandably, these same people may be experiencing a lot of emotional pain and anxiety themselves, which stems from seeing their loved on suffering from an illness. If, for these reasons, a cancer patient cannot find support at home, it’s a good idea to join a local support group or become involved in an activity that they enjoy. If their health allows it, a cancer patient should continue living life and enjoying every day as possible. While quality of life is very important, making sure to take time out for rest is one of the key points for successful recovery from any illness.
Immediately following diagnosis, a colon cancer patient may want to visit their local library or research the internet for educational resources, of which there are plenty available. This information will help the patient to become better informed and allow them to be more involved with their treatment. It’s important to know, and understand, what is happening to the body during an illness, treatments and recovery. It is equally recommended that a patient remain involved in his/her care for as long as possible. This can be achieved by conducting research, asking the physician a lot of questions and preparing for best and worst case scenarios.
Depending on how advanced a cancer patient’s illness is, several treatment options are available. If a patient decides to move forward with treatment, he/she may also wish to consult another physician for a second opinion in order to confirm the diagnosis and recommended treatment. The best outcome is to eliminate the cancer completely but, if that is not possible, the doctor may be able to stop the cancer from spreading or to relieve the patient‘s symptoms and discomfort.
Assuming the patient’s health will allow it, and he/she wishes to pursue remedies, the main method of treatment is surgery. Depending on the location and size of the cancer, a doctor may be able to remove all or part of the colon. If a polyp is the only cancer that is known to be present, it may be all that needs removing. In some cases of colon cancer, the patient must wear a permanent colostomy following surgery. This occurs if the cancer is so advanced that it forces the doctor to remove the entire colon.
Another common approach to treating colon cancer is for the patient to begin a series of chemotherapy treatments. This process involves the intake of medicines to help fight the cancer cells, which can either be taken orally or delivered through the patient’s veins. This option is often most useful to rid the patient of any lingering cancer cells following surgery. In addition, chemotherapy may be used to control the growth of cancer, relieve symptoms and prolong life. Radiation therapy, often used in conjunction with chemotherapy to help combat various other cancers, is not a treatment used to help colon cancer patients after surgery.
This article should not be construed as professional medical advice. If you, or someone that you know, is concerned about the possibility of cancer, you should seek medical attention immediately. A medical doctor can discuss various options, prevention and treatment possibilities should the presence of cancer be detected. A series of tests may be conducted in order to confirm, or rule out, any such diagnosis and can only be done by a medical doctor.
About The AuthorDr. Logan Pallas is a researcher and webmasterr. Visit his colon cancer website at http://www.coloncancercure.info for further details. You are permitted to reprint this article in its entirety as long as the links, and resource box are not altered in any way.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Logan_Pallas
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Colon Concern
Colon cancer, clinically called as colorectoral cancer, is the growth and spread of cancerous cells in the colon, rectum, and appendix. These cancerous cells form into tissues, and the mass then turns into a tumor. Tumor in colon cancer arises from the inner wall of the large intestine. If the tumor is benign, it is called polyp. If the tumor is malignant, then it is cancer.
Polyps do not reach the stage of metastasis. If detected and removed early enough, polyps can be prevented from being a threat to life and can be removed through colonoscopy. But if polyps are not removed early on, they eventually evolve into the malignant stage and can be very deadly. When the case is already malignant, the cancer cells are most likely to spread to tissues and other parts of the body, resulting in more damages. Colon cancer cells usually attack the liver and the lungs, and form new tumor growth in them.
Just like in most cancers, the medical field has not yet tracked the main cause of colon cancer. There are only known several factors that increase the risk of developing colon cancer. The most unavoidable of all is the predisposition of genetic structure. People from a family with cancer history are more likely to develop colon cancer, or any cancer at that. Genetics also play a big role in having colon cancer syndromes. First identified genetics-caused syndrome is the familial adenomatous polyposis or FAP. In FAP, affected family members develop countless numbers of colon polyps, starting in the teenage years. Unless the condition is detected and treated (treatment involves removal of the colon) early, a person with FAP is almost a hundred percent sure to develop full-blown colon cancer. The second genetics-caused syndrome is the attenuated familial adenomatous polyposis or AFAP. It is a milder version of FAP, where less than a hundred polyps develop in a person's body. Third is the hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer or HNPCC, where colon polyps develop in the right colon during early ages of 30 to 40. Last known genetics-caused syndrome is the MYH polyposis syndrome where 10-100 polyps occur around the age of 40.
What can further trigger the genetic factor in colon cancer are high-fat diets and unhealthy lifestyles. Studies have shown that a diet high in red meat and low in fresh fruit, vegetables, poultry, and fish increases colorectal cancer risk. However, the link between high-fiber diet and lower risk of colon cancer still needs a lot of proving. Smoking, on the other hand, makes people more susceptible to develop not just lung cancer but colon cancer as well. In one study conducted by the American Cancer Society, it was found out that women smokers have 40% chances of dying from colon cancer than those women who do not smoke. The same goes for men smokers who are at a 30% higher risk level in contrast to men who do not or never smoked. High alcohol intake and physical inactivity are also known elements of lifestyle, increasing the risk of developing colon cancer.
Generally, abnormalities in a person's bowel movement is the major indicator or a possible colon cancer. But more symptoms can exist like fatigue, weight loss, abdominal pain, cramps, or bloating. Conditions such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, diverticulosis, and peptic ulcer may have the same symptoms as that of colon cancer; so clinical diagnosis is necessary to really determine if the condition is colon cancer or not.
Surgery is the most availed treatment for this type of cancer. Tumor surgery has five classifications. First is the surgical treatment for localized tumor. This type of surgery may require full mesorectal excision (anterior resection) or abdominoperineal excision. In the second classification, palliative resection, the primary tumor is being removed to at least mitigate the damages its metastasis might cause. The proximal fecal diversion, the third classification, is for cases where excision is technically difficult to administer. This is done when the tumor has already invaded the surrounding vital structures of the colon. The fourth is the bypass (alternate to fecal diversion) and the last is the open-and-close surgery. The open-and-close surgery is administered in worst cases where the tumor is unresectable and resorting to other options is more harmful than beneficial. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy are the post-surgery support therapies being administered to reduce the chances of the cancer recurring.
For more valuable information on infectious diseases and medical advances, please visit http://www.healthsnippets.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hendrick_Wilbur
Polyps do not reach the stage of metastasis. If detected and removed early enough, polyps can be prevented from being a threat to life and can be removed through colonoscopy. But if polyps are not removed early on, they eventually evolve into the malignant stage and can be very deadly. When the case is already malignant, the cancer cells are most likely to spread to tissues and other parts of the body, resulting in more damages. Colon cancer cells usually attack the liver and the lungs, and form new tumor growth in them.
Just like in most cancers, the medical field has not yet tracked the main cause of colon cancer. There are only known several factors that increase the risk of developing colon cancer. The most unavoidable of all is the predisposition of genetic structure. People from a family with cancer history are more likely to develop colon cancer, or any cancer at that. Genetics also play a big role in having colon cancer syndromes. First identified genetics-caused syndrome is the familial adenomatous polyposis or FAP. In FAP, affected family members develop countless numbers of colon polyps, starting in the teenage years. Unless the condition is detected and treated (treatment involves removal of the colon) early, a person with FAP is almost a hundred percent sure to develop full-blown colon cancer. The second genetics-caused syndrome is the attenuated familial adenomatous polyposis or AFAP. It is a milder version of FAP, where less than a hundred polyps develop in a person's body. Third is the hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer or HNPCC, where colon polyps develop in the right colon during early ages of 30 to 40. Last known genetics-caused syndrome is the MYH polyposis syndrome where 10-100 polyps occur around the age of 40.
What can further trigger the genetic factor in colon cancer are high-fat diets and unhealthy lifestyles. Studies have shown that a diet high in red meat and low in fresh fruit, vegetables, poultry, and fish increases colorectal cancer risk. However, the link between high-fiber diet and lower risk of colon cancer still needs a lot of proving. Smoking, on the other hand, makes people more susceptible to develop not just lung cancer but colon cancer as well. In one study conducted by the American Cancer Society, it was found out that women smokers have 40% chances of dying from colon cancer than those women who do not smoke. The same goes for men smokers who are at a 30% higher risk level in contrast to men who do not or never smoked. High alcohol intake and physical inactivity are also known elements of lifestyle, increasing the risk of developing colon cancer.
Generally, abnormalities in a person's bowel movement is the major indicator or a possible colon cancer. But more symptoms can exist like fatigue, weight loss, abdominal pain, cramps, or bloating. Conditions such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, diverticulosis, and peptic ulcer may have the same symptoms as that of colon cancer; so clinical diagnosis is necessary to really determine if the condition is colon cancer or not.
Surgery is the most availed treatment for this type of cancer. Tumor surgery has five classifications. First is the surgical treatment for localized tumor. This type of surgery may require full mesorectal excision (anterior resection) or abdominoperineal excision. In the second classification, palliative resection, the primary tumor is being removed to at least mitigate the damages its metastasis might cause. The proximal fecal diversion, the third classification, is for cases where excision is technically difficult to administer. This is done when the tumor has already invaded the surrounding vital structures of the colon. The fourth is the bypass (alternate to fecal diversion) and the last is the open-and-close surgery. The open-and-close surgery is administered in worst cases where the tumor is unresectable and resorting to other options is more harmful than beneficial. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy are the post-surgery support therapies being administered to reduce the chances of the cancer recurring.
For more valuable information on infectious diseases and medical advances, please visit http://www.healthsnippets.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hendrick_Wilbur
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