EXTENSION REPORT

April is CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

April is Cancer Awareness Month.  We should be concerned about our health and make a conscientious effort to take care of ourselves not only NOW, but during the entire  year.   If you are 50 or older and have never been tested for colorectal cancer - NOW is a good time to be tested!  Colorectal cancer screening reduces death from colorectal cancer.  It is also one of the few cancers that can be prevented through screening because adenomatous polyps, from which colon cancers often develop, can be identified and removed during screening.  Testing for this type of cancer should begin at age 50.  There are several different types of tests available.

• A fecal occult blood test (FOBT) should be done every year either in the doctor’s office or at home.  For the FOBT, samples of stool are tested for small amounts of blood that cannot be seen.  Blood in the stool can be a sign of cancer.
• Flexible sigmoidoscopy should be performed every five years.  The sigmoidoscope is a flexible type that is about 2 feet long.  The doctor inserts it into the rectum to look inside the colon.
• An FOBT every year plus a flexible sigmoidoscopy every five years is a combination that is more accurate than either test alone.
• Colonoscopy should be performed every 10 years.  Colonoscopy uses an instrument much like the sigmoidocope except that the colonoscope is longer so the doctor can see the entire length of the colon.  The person can be given sedation before this test is done.  If polyps are found during this test, they can be removed.
• Double-contract barium enema should be done every five years.  For this test, the colon is partially filled with barium sulfate, a chalky substance, through a small tube placed in the anus.  When the colon is about half-full of barium, air is inserted to cause the colon to expand.  This allows x-ray films to show abnormalities of the colon.

     These guidelines are for people with average risk factors.  For those people who have any of the following increased risk factors, they should begin colorectal cancer screening earlier and undergo screening more often.  These are the factors that increase colorectal cancer risk:

• A strong family history of colorectal cancer or polyps in a first-degree relative (parents, sibling, or child) younger than 60 or in two first-degree relatives of any age.
• A known family history of hereditary colorectal cancer syndromes, familial adenomatous polyposis and hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer.
• A personal history of colorectal cancer or adenomatous polyps.
• A personal history of chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

     There is so much to keep up with in the world today and our health care is no exception.  Ask your doctor if it is time to be screened and make an appointment for a screening.  The screening test you have may save your life.

Source:  Get Healthy Pensacola March/April 2006 and Facets, April 2006

Email address: cbivins@aces.edu
Phone: 937-7176 or 943-5611, 928-0860, ext. 2222

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work in agriculture and home economics, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, and other related acts, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M University and Auburn University) offers educational programs, materials, and equal opportunity employment to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.