Cancer: it’s not a word that anyone really wants to hear. While not necessarily a death sentence, cancer is an illness that does have a high mortality rate depending on where in the body it strikes.
Colon cancer – the third most common cancer – results in the second highest number of cancer deaths. While that fact can be a bit intimidating, as can the realization that for many people colon cancer has no symptoms until it is in its advanced stages, it’s important to take a step back and recognize that there are a number of things that you can do in order to lower your risk of developing the disease.
Long before someone develops full blown colon cancer and notices symptoms like unexplained weight loss, anemia, generalized weakness and changes in bowel habits, there are screening procedures that can be performed by a doctor to check for signs of developing colon cancer as well as pre-cancerous polyps in the colon. Screenings are important – in fact, they are essential for detecting, diagnosing and monitoring colon cancer.
Ideally, if you were to develop colon cancer, and it would be caught before the tumor grew through the...