May is National Women’s Month. Makes sense considering that this is the month when we celebrate Mother’s Day, but while we set aside one day this month to celebrate the women brave enough to raise us, it’s also important that we celebrate all women this month and promote healthy living.

Even though there is a whole month dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness, it’s important to remind women about other diseases we’re at risk for and how living a healthy lifestyle can prevent them. Colon cancer may not have a sexy awareness campaign like “Save the Ta-Tas” but raising awareness for colon cancer in women is just as important.

Colon cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed for women, and it is a highly preventable disease. When colon cancer is discovered in its early stages, it is easily treatable, and thanks to advances in screening technology, there are now more than one million survivors of colon cancer in the U.S. Women should start getting regular colonoscopies at age 50, 45 for African Americans. There are also some healthy lifestyle changes that women should consider making during Women’s Health Month such as eating right and exercising regularly. Both of these changes can significantly reduce one’s risk for colon cancer.

National Women’s Health Week is May 12-18, and WomensHealth.gov encourages women to use this week to follow their five steps to improve their physical and mental health:

1. Visit a health care professional to receive regular checkups and preventative screenings (such as a colonoscopy).
2. Get active.
3. Eat healthy.
4. Pay attention to mental health by getting enough sleep and managing stress.
5. Avoid unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, texting and driving, and not wearing a seatbelt or a helmet.

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Don’t Neglect Your Colon during Women’s Health Month

Sam Simon, one of the three creators of the popular television show “The Simpsons” and known animal activist, was all set to sail with the Sea Shepherds in their latest attempt to stop illegal Japanese whalers when he got some unsettling news.

His doctors told him that his colon cancer, which was diagnosed in 2012, has metastasized and spread to his other organs. They also told him that he only has months to live.

“I had all my stuff ready to go for the adventure of my life, but instead I got a different kind of adventure,” Simon said. “I’ve had the greatest life in the world. So, when it comes to talking about disappointments, they’re very high-end disappointments, and there’s not many of them, but this [missing the trip] would be the biggest one.”

Simon, who is 57 years old and a regular on the Howard Stern Show, announced his news on “Leiberman: Live at 5” in March and told listeners that he received the diagnosis five months earlier, and the doctors estimated that he has three to six months to live (Source: Examiner.com).

“The diagnosis was–I was feeling bad for a couple years, and I was diagnosing myself from television talk shows, so I was taking antidepressants and I was trying to get my testosterone levels up,” he said. “But then it turned out my primary cancer was colon cancer that had spread to my liver, kidneys, abdominal connective tissues and my lymph system and maybe my brain. They’re not sure about that.”

Simon chose to undergo chemotherapy despite their estimation.

“I don’t believe in miracles,” Simon added. “And I don’t believe in 3-6 months [to live]. I think it’s an adventure and we shall see what happens” (Source: Mother Nature Network).

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Share a Colon Cancer Story and Honor Someone You Love

It’s that time of year again everyone. That’s right; spring is rolling in, and it’s bringing a lot of implications with it. Culturally, spring is a time to introduce ourselves to new things and to refresh the old. One common tradition is to clean all of the old junk you have stored in your home in the past year, but some people go a little deeper with their cleaning. I am sure that most of us have heard about colon detoxification (also called hydrotherapy, colon cleansing or colonic irrigation) and all of the wonderful health benefits that it is supposed to have, but should you believe the hype? Since this is often a mystifying subject, I will help shed light on the good, the bad and the truth about colonic detoxification.

History of Detoxification

Colon cleansing is a technique that has picked up popularity since the turn of the century, even though it has roots that go back to ancient times. Ancient Egyptians thought feces was impure and could taint the body if it lingered for too long, so they regularly cleaned their colons. This idea caught on in the early 1900s as “autointoxication,” and doctors proposed that dangerous toxins would be reabsorbed into the body if fecal matter was left unchecked to accumulate on the walls of the colon (Source: American Cancer Society). This way of thinking still fuels contemporary proponents of colonic cleansing.

Disproven Claims

Those who push colon detoxing claim that it has significant benefits to overall health covering a wide range of illnesses such as: general aches and pains, obesity, constipation, low sex drive, cancer, skin problems and even bad breath. The problem with these claims is that there are never any citations or evidence to back them up. Most scientific studies that have been done on colon cleansing have shown it to have little or no effects on overall health and that the colon naturally gets rid of toxins. Only the nutrients are absorbed from digested food, and most of this absorption happens in the small intestine, meaning that cleaning the colon (large intestine) would do nothing to stop these “toxins” from entering the blood (Source: Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology). What’s even worse is that frequent, extreme or poorly administered detoxifications can have a negative impact on the body, causing  conditions like abdominal pain, vomiting, renal failure, rectal perforations (tears) and even death (Source: American Cancer Society, Journal of Family Practice). In short, the notion that colon detoxification is some kind of miracle treatment should be heavily disregarded.

Limited Usefulness of Colon Detoxification

The fact that colon detoxification cannot cure every disease known to man does not, however, mean that the practice should be abandoned. One very good benefit of  colon cleansing is that it does in fact clean out the colon in a pleasant manner, which is more than can be said for some other methods for cleaning the walls of the colon. This function is especially important when it comes to preparing for a colonoscopy. Some gastroenterologists have recognized colon hydrotherapy as an option for prepping for a colonoscopy and have done studies comparing it to traditional prep (Source: Danbury Hospital, Carla Roter RPN). The results of these studies seem to show that colon hydrotherapy does an effective job of clearing the walls of the colon about 98 percent of the time, making it easy for doctors to see polyps that may be lining the walls of the colon (Source: Dotolo Research Corp). Also, many  patients prefer colon hydrotherapy over traditional prep; in one study only 2 percent of patients were dissatisfied with hydrotherapy as opposed to approximately 50 percent who had traditional preps (Source: Internal Medicine News).

So as you can see, you don’t need colon cleansing to get rid of “toxins” in your body, but you may want to ask your gastroenterologist about hydrotherapy as a more relaxing way to prepare for your colonoscopy.

Since 1997, April has been IBS Awareness Month, and for good reason! Irritable bowel syndrome is a legitimate condition that has serious implications on quality of life (Source: IFFGD). Affecting the large intestine, IBS can cause bloating, abdominal cramping and a change in bowel habits. Some patients with IBS have constipation while others have diarrhea. Some people go back and forth between the two.

Although IBS is uncomfortable, it does not harm the intestines. IBS is common and more frequently affects women than men. No one knows the exact cause of IBS, but symptoms can often be controlled with a change in diet, medicine and stress management.

Although a majority of the people who receive treatment for IBS find that their symptoms improve, many people suffering from IBS choose to suffer in silence rather than seek help from a medical professional, either from embarrassment or lack of knowledge about the condition. IBS Awareness Month was created to help support those with IBS and encourage them to seek treatment.

If you or anyone you know suffers from abdominal pain or cramping, constipation, diarrhea, bloating, gas or mucus in the stool, then you should contact a doctor to see if you have IBS. And remember, by spreading the word about IBS, you can greatly improve someone’s quality of life.

StopColonCancerNow.com celebrated National Colon Cancer Screening Day with gladness in mind as it exceeded its goal of motivating more than 2,013 new patients to seek colon cancer screenings. 

With March being both the pinnacle of the college basketball season as well as Colon Cancer Awareness Month, StopColonCancerNow.com aimed to encourage people to rally around their health in the same way that they rally around their favorite team. As part of March Gladness, National Screening Day on March 8 was the day to get in the game and have a colonoscopy.

When caught early, colon cancer has a 90 percent survival rate. Colonoscopy is the most effective way to detect colon cancer, as well as pre-cancerous polyps.

“We are exceedingly glad that our efforts to educate people about the importance of colon cancer screening were effective,” said Dr. John Popp, Medical Advisor to StopColonCancerNow.com.  “Though National Screening Day is important, every day should be National Screening Day.  If this were the case, we would see the number of colon cancer cases decline rapidly because it is largely a preventable disease.”

Those who are at risk for colon cancer include anyone over the age of 50, African- Americans who are 45 years of age and over and those who have a family history of polyps or colon cancer.

A colonoscopy allows doctors to find and remove precancerous polyps before they develop into cancer, making a colonoscopy the only test that allows both diagnosis and treatment at the same time.  Colonoscopy can also find cancer at its earliest stage, when treatment works best. 

For more information or to schedule your first colonoscopy, visit www.StopColonCancerNow.com.