Saturday, April 24, 2010

4 Possible Colon Cancer Symptoms

Colon cancer (also known as bowel cancer or colorectal cancer) is any cancer that affects the last section of the digestive tract (usually the colon or rectum). It is responsible for over 16,000 deaths in the UK each year and is therefore one of the most dangerous types of cancer around. There are a number of symptoms which could indicate that you have bowel cancer. In this article I will be discussing these signs and symptoms and hopefully give you the information to identify this disease sooner rather than later.

Unlike other conditions where the symptoms are often clear and easy to identify, colon cancer symptoms are usually vague and more difficult to spot. As the cancer becomes more advanced and the tumour grows, the symptoms become more noticeable. However, by this time it is often more difficult to treat the cancer effectively. That is why it is essential for you to be on the lookout for signs of bowel cancer at all times. By doing this you can significantly improve your chances of identifying colorectal cancer early and getting it treated. There are many symptoms associated with this type of cancer but below I have outlined four of the most common.

1) BLOOD IN THE STOOLS OR RECTAL BLEEDING:- This is probably the number one symptom of colon cancer. With this type of cancer the tumour develops in the final section of the digestive tract. Therefore, if the tumour bleeds some of this blood usually comes out of the rectum or in your stools. The bleeding is not usually significant but if you notice any at all then you should inform your doctor immediately.

2) PAIN IN THE STOMACH:- If the tumour gets large enough it can cause a blockage in your colon. This blockage can prevent solids, fluids or gases passing through your bowel which then leads to cramps and pains. In the worst cases, the tumour can grow so large that it breaks through your bowel wall which again causes major stomach pains. Although stomach pains are associated with multiple conditions, any prolonged pains could be indicative of colon cancer. If you experience these pains for an extended period go and see your doctor right away.

3) DIFFERENT BOWEL MOVEMENTS:- If the tumour becomes large it can also have an impact on your bowel movements. The blockage created by a large tumour can prevent stools from passing through the colon leading to constipation (difficulty passing stools). It can also cause a build up of fluid behind the tumour which eventually leaks through leading to diarrhea (difficulty controlling your bowel movements because your stools have become watery). If you notice any unusual bowel movements, particularly for long periods, this could be a sign of colorectal cancer and you should consult your doctor.

4) UNEXPECTED WEIGHT LOSS:- Sometimes tumours release chemicals which increase your metabolism and cause you to burn more calories than usual. Therefore, if you experience any unexpected or unexplained weight loss you should consult your doctor and get yourself tested for bowel cancer. Even if the weight loss is not linked to cancer it is still advisable to see your doctor because any weight loss that you cannot account for is likely to have some underlying cause.

As you can see from this article the symptoms of colon cancer are not always obvious and easy to identify. However, I hope this article has shown you some of the things you should be looking out for. Bowel cancer is much more treatable if it is caught in the early stages so if you notice any of the above symptoms do not take any chances. Go see your doctor right away and get a professional verdict.

Whilst every intention has been made to make this article accurate and informative, it is intended for general information only. Colon cancer is a very serious, life threatening condition and you should discuss any concerns, treatments or lifestyle changes fully with your doctor.

Tom Parker owns and operates a number of useful fitness resources and websites. You can learn more about the various colon cancer symptoms and get a free Fitness Tip every day for a full year by visiting his fitness websites.

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Wednesday, April 14, 2010

What Are The Colon Cancer Symptoms

Colon cancer is currently the second most common cancer in the United States, and causes over 50,000 deaths in the country each year; and for the record, which is about as many American soldiers that died in the entire Vietnam conflict. This is an especially tragic and frustrating fact because the majority of the deaths caused by colon cancer could have been prevented or reduced.

Colon CancerThe symptoms include pain in the abdomen, diarrhea, blood in the feces, and sometimes constipation or sometimes even blocked bowel movements. It can range from very mild, and to extremely severe. There are cases of colon cancer that are almost without symptoms until the latest stages.

It is not a good idea to wait until you have noticeable sign before learning about the disease and taking some action. Once you've developed such symptoms, the disease has probably entered into the middle or late stages, and there is a high chance that it has spread to other areas of your body. Once it has spread to other parts of your body, your likelihood of survival lowers dramatically.

If you catch colon cancer in the earlier stages, there is an extremely high chance that you will recover and survive well. Over 90% of people who are diagnosed with an early stage are able to undergo a successful surgical removal of the cancer before it spreads to other parts. It is important to note that in the beginning stages, the signs are rarely noticeable, so it is only those who regularly go for a colonoscopy or other colon exam that will be able to catch the disease early.

This cancer also has a high tendency to run in families. There is a genetic trait for developing 'polyps' that can be passed down from one generation to the next, and this trait vastly increases your odds of getting the disease. If you parents, grandparents, or siblings have even been diagnosed with this disease, there is a good chance you may have this polyp gene, and it is especially important that you get checked regularly once you reach the age of 40.

Clearly, it is extremely important to get a regular colon exam, irregardless of whether the disease runs in your family or not. Also, contrary to some myths, women are as likely to develop colon cancer as compare to men. People of African decent seem to be especially prone to such disease, and should consider getting their first exam starting even earlier than age 40. No one likes the thought of a colon exam, as they are certainly unpleasant, but late stage colon cancer are definitely worse to have.

It is important to detect colon cancer early and seek appropriate treatment. Learn How To Clean Up Your Colon for a better health. Prevention is better than cure. Get a complete body detox from home

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Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Colon Cancer Symptoms and Information

Colon cancer is a serious disease, as are all types of cancer. Noticing little changes in your body will help you to realize that something could possibly be wrong, resulting in early detection and treatment or cure of this devastating disease. There are actually several different symptoms that can be related to this cancer.

Colon CancerSymptoms

Signs and symptoms of colon cancer can take a while to become detectable. Taking notice of your normal bowel habits can be of benefit in the event that something does go wrong. The following are symptoms of this cancer:

· A change in your bowel habits. Whether it is constipation, diarrhea, or any other change in the consistency of your bowel movements, these are all important signs to take note of in your daily routine and can help you catch this disease in the earlier stages.

· Rectal bleeding. Patients often dismiss rectal bleeding as just being hemorrhoids. Don't let this happen to you. Usually with cancer, the bleeding will continue. It may stop for a while, but it will always come back.

· Blood in your stool. You may notice that there is blood whenever you have a bowel movement. You may not actually notice any blood between movements.

· The feeling that your bowel has not completely emptied after a bowel movement. Tumors can actually grow inside the colon and become large enough to block a portion of the colon.

· Unexplained weight loss.

· Fatigue or weakness.

Many times, people who have developed colon cancer may not experience any signs or symptoms in the earlier stages of the disease. This is why it is important to schedule a regular exam with your physician to be checked, especially if you are within an at-risk group for developing colon cancer.

Symptoms will vary from person to person. Each person is different and the cancer within those patients is different. No two cancers will grow the same, spread the same, and affect the exact same area. This is why symptoms will usually vary from person to person. The above listed symptoms will serve only as a guideline of what to be on the lookout for.

If you feel that you may be experiencing any of these signs or symptoms, contact your physician immediately. You want to catch the cancer in the earlier stages. Chances for treatment or curability decreases in the later stages of colon cancer and the prognosis is not good. If caught in Stage 0 or Stage 1, there is greater than a 90% chance of a 5-year survival rate. If caught in the last stage, the chance is less than 10%.

It is imperative that you pay attention to your body and notice any types of changes. If you notice changes, seek immediate medical help. Even if you don't notice any of these symptoms, do whatever you can to prevent colon cancer.

Go to the new Prostate Cancer Community to get your free ebooks on Prostate Cancer at Colon Cancer Symptoms. The new Prostate Cancer Community also has information on Colon Cancer along with a lot of other free information. Come by our new Prostate Cancer Community site today for free ebooks and other free information that can help you today.

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Sunday, April 11, 2010

Colon Cancer - How to Reduce the Risk

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in both men and women in the US. According to the American Cancer Society's most recent estimates, there were over 108,000 cases of colon cancer and almost 41,000 cases of rectal cancer in 2009, causing almost 50,000 deaths.

VegetablesOverall, the lifetime risk for developing colorectal cancer is about 5.3% or 1 in 19. Men are slightly more likely to have it than women.

According to a study from the December 2009 issue of International Journal of Cancer, if you want to reduce your risk of colon cancer you need to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables and drink more tea and red wine. The authors followed a group of 120,852 men and women who were 55-69 years old at the beginning of the study. Every participant filled out detailed dietary questionnaires, indicating how much of different types of foods and beverages they consumed. The reason for the study was to see if there was a link between diet and cancer and also whether certain types of food could reduce cancer risk.

FruitsThis study lasted about 13 years, during which time,1,444 men and 1,041 women developed colon or rectal cancer.

After analyzing the diet of people with and without cancer, the researchers found that higher flavonoids and catechins intake was associated with a reduced incidence of rectal and colon cancer.

Flavonoids, also called bioflavonoids, include many different substances that are sometimes collectively referred to as Vitamin P. They are found in large amounts in plants, such as fruits and vegetables. They are also known by another name - phyto-nutrients. Literally hundreds of these have been identified and many more are still being discovered.

Catechins are types of bioflavonoids that have a slightly different chemical structure.

All bioflavonoids have anti-oxidant activity, which means that they have the ability to neutralize dangerous free radicals that are generated by the body as a result of normal metabolic activity. They also have general health-enhancing and anti-cancer activity.

All fruits and vegetables have a variety of bioflavonoids. Tea, grapes, red wine, dark chocolate are also very rich in catechins and other bioflavonoids. Red wine has a lot of resveratrol, a bioflavonoid that has been linked to reduced cancer risk, plus many other important substances.

So the lesson is to include fresh fruits, vegetables, berries and other plant-based foods in your diet. It is not only good for preventing cancer, but also for reducing the risk of other diseases, including heart disease.

Michael Teplitsky, MD has been practicing alternative and holistic medicine for over 20 years. He has treated thousands of patients using nutrition and nutritional supplements. His book Nutrition and Your Health explains complex and confusing nutritional concepts in an easy to understand layman language. Please visit the http://www.CommonSenseHealthGuide.com to get the book, a Free Report 7 Health Myths That Can Hurt You, health news, and other valuable information.

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Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Colon Cancer Symptoms

The colon is part of the body's digestive system and, like many other parts of the body, can become a place for the growth of cancer. A tumor in this region is known as colon cancer. And like some other cancers, the tumor can develop without necessarily giving the patient obvious signs or symptoms, certainly at the beginning of the disease. And again like some other cancers, the patient can have symptoms which are common to colon cancer without the cancer being there at all.

Colon Cancer SymptomsThe colon plays two important roles. It helps the body absorb various essentials such as minerals, nutrients and water and it also assists in ridding the body of waste products. Most of the large intestine is part of the colon and the latter part of the large intestine is made up of the anal canal and the rectum.

So what symptoms could be a sign that the patient has developed colon cancer? Well here are some of the symptoms which deal specifically with your toilet habits and your colon.

1. Constipation which means the patient has trouble having a bowel movement. There could be a blockage due to the growth of a tumor.

2. Unusual bowel movements which could mean [a] more movements than normal or fewer movements or [b] producing abnormal stools which may be thinner than usual or [c] discolored stools which could be red or black.

3. Diarrhea

4. A combination of constipation followed by diarrhea.

5. Abdominal pain which could include cramps, gas or bloating.

There are other symptoms for patients with colon cancer but these are more general and can apply to the body as a whole.

1. Weight loss particularly when the patient is not trying to lose weight.

2. A change of skin color which can be called jaundice seen also in the whites of your eyes.

3. Being sick with vomiting and nausea and generally feeling unwell.

4. Losing your appetite and not being interested in food.

5. Being tired and even fatigued to the extent that you have little energy.

6. Anemia which is a lack of iron in your blood.

As with other cancers, having some of the above symptoms does not mean you have colon cancer and many people will suffer from an upset stomach and anemia when they do not have colon cancer. But the advice is always the same. Do not delay in seeing your doctor if these symptoms exist. It is far better to be safe than sorry and the sooner any cancer which may exist is detected, the better are your chances of beating the disease.

There will always be some people who are afraid of or embarrassed about taking a colon cancer test. There is no need to think or feel that way. Patients should know that the test does not hurt, that millions of people have been tested for this disease and that the medical staff who are involved in the test have at some time been patients themselves. It's a simple and safe procedure with potentially great benefits.

As isolated as you may feel right now, you are not alone. Cancer diagnosis is no longer the end of the story. Cancer survivors prove every day that this can be the beginning of a whole new positive chapter in your life. Join our unique community of cancer survivors to be right now and receive a FREE report on Cancer Survivor's tips.

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Monday, April 5, 2010

The Colon Cancer

The design of stepwise genetic modifiation in cancer is best highlighted by observations made in colonic lesions representing various phases of development to malignancy. Particular anatomical alterations are discovered commonly in early-stage adenomas, whereas others have a tendency to occur with substantial frequency only after the development of wide spread neoplasia. These modifications are in maintaining with the idea that serial phenotypic modifications must happen in the mobile for it to exhibit full malignant (wide spread and metastatic) properties. Two principal lines of proof assistance the model of stepwise genetic modifiation in intestinal tract cancer.

Colon Cancer1. The uncommon familial syndromes associated with predisposition to colon most cancers at an early age are now recognized to result from germline mutations. Familial adenomatous polyposis is the end result of a mutation within the APC gene, which encodes a cell adhesion protein which has also been implicated within the control of -catenin, a potent transcriptional activator. Within the tumors that subsequently produce, the remaining allele have been lost. Similarly, hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal most cancers is linked with germline mutations in DNA repair genes such as hMSH2 and hMLH1. These genes can also be affected in sporadic cancers.

2. The carcinogenic effects of factors known to be linked to an elevated risk of colon most cancers constitute the second line of evidence for the anatomical basis for colon most cancers. Substances derived from bacterial colonic flora, ingested meals, or endogenous metabolites such as fecapentaenes, 3-ketosteroids, and benzo[]pyrenes are mutagenic. Amounts of those ingredients can be reduced by low-fat and high-fiber diets, and several epidemiologic studies confirm that this kind of diets decrease the risk of intestinal tract cancer. Furthermore, because the chance of sporadic intestinal tract cancer in older individuals is mildly elevated in the presence of a good family background, there might be other inherited anatomical abnormalities that interact with environmental elements to trigger colon most cancers.

The sequence of genetic changes might not require to become exact to result in the improvement of an wide spread cancer, although there is mounting evidence that some genetic lesions tend to produce earlier, whereas other people may develop late in the course of the natural disease. All phenotypic changes can't be explained by a known anatomical abnormality, nor do all identified anatomical modifiation have a known phenotypic result. Nevertheless, the stepwise dynamics of genotypic and phenotypic irregularities is well set up.

The earliest molecular defect within the pathogenesis of intestinal tract cancer is the acquisition of somatic mutations in the APC gene within the normal colonic mucosa. This defect brings about abnormal regulation of -catenin, which leads to abnormal cell proliferation and the initial actions in tumor formation. Subsequent defects in the TGF- signaling pathway inactivate this important growth inhibitory pathway and lead to more tumor mucosal proliferation and the introduction of little adenomas. Mutational activation of the K-ras gene leads to constitutive activation of the essential proliferative signaling pathway, is common at these stages, and further boosts the proliferative potential of the adenomatous tumor cells. Deletion or reduction of expression from the DCC gene is common in the progression to wide spread intestinal tract cancers.

The DCC protein is a transmembrane protein from the immunoglobulin superfamily and might be a receptor for certain extracellular molecules that guide mobile development and or apoptosis. Mutational inactivation of p53 can also be a frequently observed step in the development of wide spread intestinal tract cancer, observed in late adenomas and earlier wide spread cancers, and prospects to loss of an essential mobile cycle checkpoint and inability to activate the p53-dependent apoptotic pathways. Identification of genetic irregularities within the development of colon cancer to metastatic disease is presently under investigation.

In parallel to these sequential irregularities in the regulation of mobile proliferation, colon cancers also acquire defects in mechanisms that guard genomic stability. These generally include mutations in mismatch restore genes or genes that prevent chromosomal instability. Mismatch restore genes are a family of genes which are involved in proofreading DNA throughout replication and consist of MSH2,MLH1,PMS1, and PMS2. Germline mutations in these genes cause the hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) syndrome. Nonhereditary colon cancers develop genomic instability via defects within the chromosomal instability (CIN) genes. Defects in these genes result in the gain or reduction of large segments or whole chromosomes throughout replication primary to aneuploidy.

The stepwise acquisition of genetic irregularities described previously is associated with modifiation in the phenotypic behavior of the colonic mucosa. The earliest change in the development to colon most cancers may be the improve in cell number (hyperplasia) on the epithelial (luminal) surface. This creates an adenoma, which can be characterized by gland-forming cells exhibiting increases in sizing and cell number but no invasion of surrounding structures. Presumably, these changes are due to improved proliferation and loss of mobile cycle manage but prior to acquisition of the capacity to invade ECM. Additional dysplastic modifications such as reduction of mucin production and altered mobile polarity may be present to some variable degree.

Some adenomas may improvement to carcinoma in situ and ultimately to invasive carcinoma. An early function linked with disrupted architecture even prior to invasion occurs is the development of fragile new vessels or destruction of existing vessels that may trigger microscopic bleeding. This could be examined for clinically like a fecal occult blood determination employed for screening and earlier diagnosis of preinvasive and invasive intestinal tract cancer. It isn't known regardless of whether all wide spread colon cancers pass via a hyperplastic or preinvasive stage, and there is no information available for epithelial malignancies generally.

Additional functional modifications in the cell and surrounding tissue are also manifested in the preinvasive and wide spread stages. Once the basement membrane is penetrated by invasive malignant tissue, entry could be gained towards the regional lymphatics, and spread to regional pericolic lymph nodes can occur. Entry of cells into the bloodstream can result in distant distribute in the pattern that reflects venous drainage. Consequently, hematogenous spread from primary colon tumors towards the liver is common, whereas rectal tumors usually disseminate to liver, lung, and bone. Additionally to anatomic considerations, there may exist specific tropism of malignant cells mediated by surface proteins that cause the cells to preferentially home in on certain organs or sites.

Colonic epithelium is specialized to secrete mucus proteins and to get water and electrolytes. The upkeep of a tight luminal barrier, intracellular charge distinctions, and the capability to exclude toxins are additional specialized features. Some of these features are maintained within the progression to neoplasia and may lead to some specific phenotype of the malignant cell. One instance is the expression of a transporter membrane protein, MDR-1, present on a number of types of epithelium, such as the colon.

MDR-1 is recognized to trigger efflux of several compounds out from the tissue, presumably like a protective system to exclude poisons. In sophisticated colon cancer, this protein might lead to the relative resistance of this along with other tumor types to some variety of chemotherapeutic agents which are transported by MDR-1. In some instances, the activation of a latent gene encoding carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) can result in measurable levels from the CEA protein in the serum of sufferers with localized or metastatic colon cancer as well as other adenocarcinomas.

Franco Zinzi has been involved with online marketing for nearly 3 years and likes to write on various subjects. Come visit his latest website which discusses of Mesothelioma Treatment Options and cancer related information for the owner of his own healthcare.

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