COLON CANCER. PREVENTIVE MEASURES

Preventive measures are the measures taken to prevent colon cancer. There are two types of measures: primary and secondary.

The primary preventive measure consists of modifying our lifestyle and the second consists of detecting the illness in its early stages through a simple faecal occult blood test.

PRIMARY PREVENTIVE MEASURE. CHANGING LIFESTYLE.

1. Diet.

• Have a diet rich in fibre, fruit, vegetables, legumes and nuts.
• Ensure that we reduce the ingestion of meats that are red, processed, cured or rich in saturated fats such as sausages, cold meats, etc.
• However, no link has been found between the ingestion of white meats (turkey, chicken) and colon cancer.
• Decrease the ingestion of meats that are fried or cooked directly in fire as much as possible.

2. Maintaining a healthy weight.

This measure is more pertinent for men due to the higher risk that they have of accumulating fat within their waistline, which is in turn, the most dangerous type of fat there is.

3. Stop smoking.

4. Stop or decrease the ingestion of alcohol.

5. Complete physical exercise.

Walking at a fast pace for a minimum of thirty minutes per day.

Changing lifestyle is very important because it not only helps to prevent the emergence of colon cancer, but also helps to improve the quality of life of patients suffering from it and additionally, helps to decrease the recurrence of treated cancer.

SECONDARY PREVENTIVE MEASURE. FAECAL OCULT BLOOD TEST.

The faecal occult blood test is one of the most important tests used to detect colon cancer in its early stages in healthy people without symptoms. This test is conducted by simply taking a faecal sample to find occult blood within them.

It is recommended that this test be conducted in people around the age of fifty. This test will be conducted in ages younger than fifty, in people that have colon pathologies, familial polyposis or a family history of colon cancer (parents, brothers, sisters, etc.).

A colonoscopy will be conducted if the result of the test comes back positive and if the result comes back negative, then the test will be repeated a year or two later.

WARNING

People that present inflammatory colon diseases such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease, will need to undertake frequent colonoscopies due to them presenting a higher risk of developing colon cancer. People with irritable colon have the same risk of suffering from colon cancer than the general population therefore, faecal occult blood tests are only conducted as a preventative measure.

Dr. J. Hurtado Martínez

Medical Director of HealthSalus

CÁNCER DE COLON. MEDIDAS DE PREVENCIÓN

Las medidas de prevención son las medidas a tomar a la hora de prevenir el cáncer de colon. Estas medidas son de dos tipos: primaria y secundaria.

La primaria consiste en modificar nuestro estilo de vida , y la secundaria en detectar la enfermedad en sus comienzos a través de una simple prueba de sangre oculta en heces.

PREVENCIÓN PRIMARIA. MODIFICACION DEL ESTILO DE VIDA

1. Alimentación.

• Dieta rica en fibra, frutas, verduras, hortalizas, legumbres, cereales integrales, frutos secos.
• Reducción de la ingesta de carnes rojas, procesadas, ahumadas o alimentos ricos en grasas saturadas, como salchichas, embutidos, etc.                                         
• No se ha encontrado sin embargo, ningún tipo de relación entre la ingesta de carnes blancas (pollo, pavo) y el cáncer de colon.
• Disminuir al máximo la ingesta de carnes fritas o cocinadas directamente en el fuego

2. Mantener un peso saludable.

Esta medida es aún más importante en los hombres por el riesgo mayor que tienen estos de acumular grasa a nivel de la cintura (la más peligrosa).

3. Abandonar el hábito tabáquico.

4. Abandonar o disminuir la ingesta de alcohol.

5. Hacer ejercicio físico. 

Al menos caminar un mínimo de media hora al día y a paso rápido.

El cambio en el estilo de vida es tan importante que no solo ayuda a prevenir la aparición del cáncer de colon sino que también mejora la calidad de vida de los pacientes que ya lo padecen y ayuda a la disminución de las recidivas del cáncer ya tratado.

PREVENCIÓN SECUNDARIA. TEST DE SANGRE OCULTA EN HECES.

El test de sangre oculta en heces es una de las pruebas más importantes para detectar a tiempo el cáncer de colon en personas sanas y sin síntomas. Esta prueba se realiza simplemente tomando una muestra de heces y buscando en ella sangre oculta. La edad recomendada para la realización de este test es alrededor de los cincuenta años. En personas con enfermedades del colon, poliposis familiar o antecedentes familiares de cáncer de colon (padres, hermanos, etc.) la prueba se realizará en edades más tempranas.

Si la prueba es positiva se realizará a continuación una colonoscopia y si es negativa se volverá a repetir el test al año o los dos años siguientes.

ADVERTENCIA

Las personas que presenten enfermedades inflamatorias del colon como Colitis Ulcerosa o Enfermedad de Crohn deben de realizarse colonoscopias de forma frecuente debido a que presentan un mayor riesgo de desarrollar cáncer de colon. Las personas con colon irritable presentan el mismo riesgo de padecer  cáncer de colon que la población general, así que solo deberán de realizarse el test de sangre oculta en heces como medida de prevención.

Dra. J. Hurtado Martínez

Directora Médica de HealthSalus

COLON CANCER. WARNING SIGNS

The colon is the largest part of the intestine, which is an organ that is located within the abdominal cavity. Benign and malignant tumours can develop in the colon like in any other organ. Colon cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide with the same proportion of men and women suffering from it. The age of fifty is the most common age in which this type of cancer emerges at however, it could also appear at earlier ages.

SYMPTOMS

Even though colon cancer can be unnoticed as it can rarely present any symptoms, it is important to take immediate action when they do emerge.

The most important symptoms are:

1. Faeces with red or dark blood

2. Changes in intestinal habits for more than a period of three weeks such as diarrhoea or constipation

3. Going from having normal faeces to very thin faeces

4. Permanent abdominal pain or pain when defecating

5. Inflamed abdomen producing a constant feeling of fullness

6. Feeling as though intestinal emptiness is not completed

7. Waking up with abdominal pain during the night

8. Anaemia without any apparent cause

9. Tiredness

10. Weakness

11. An inexplicable loss of weight

12. Shortness of breath

13. Dizziness

DIAGNOSIS

• Colonoscopy or colon endoscopy

When completing this test, a sample or biopsy of the lesion or the found polyp is taken. This is the main test that is used to diagnose this type of cancer.

Other tests include:

• Virtual colonoscopy
• Sigmoidoscopy
• CT scan
• MRI Scan
• Etc

TREATMENT

• Surgery
• Chemotherapy
• Radiotherapy
• Immunotherapy
• Others

Preventive measures are so important that we will be exploring them separately in the next article.

Dr J. Hurtado Martínez

Medical Director of HealthSalus