Colorectal Cancer is the third most frequently diagnosed cancer in both men and women and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. And while more and more people are getting screened for these cancers each year, there is still some confusion about who should get screened and how often.

As part of Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, we are providing some basic information and links to resources to answer these important questions.

Who’s at Risk?

• People age 50 and older
• People who smoke
• People who are overweight or obese, especially those who carry fat around their waists
• People who aren’t physically active
• People who drink alcohol in excess, especially men
• People who eat a lot of red meat (such as beef, pork or lamb) or processed meat (such as bacon, sausage, hot dogs or cold cuts)
• People with personal or family histories of colorectal cancer or benign (not cancerous) colorectal polyps
• People with personal histories of inflammatory bowel disease (such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease)
• People with family histories of inherited colorectal cancer or inherited colorectal problems

When Should I Get Screened?

This is a discussion to have with your doctor based on your individual risk factors. Current guidelines indicate that people with an average risk for colorectal cancer, should start getting screened at age 50.

However, if you have a family or personal history of colorectal problems or other risk factors, you may need to start regular screening at an earlier age and be screened more often.

If you’re older than 75, ask your doctor if you should continue to be screened. At this age, screening guidelines conflict and a person’s overall health may determine whether a person should be screened and which tests may be appropriate. For example, a less invasive screening procedure such as a stool test that looks for the presence of blood, may be more appropriate that a colonoscopy which requires anesthesia.

Which Screening Method is Best?

When speaking with your doctor about getting screened, you may also want to discuss which method is right for you. A colonoscopy remains the “gold” standard for screening as it provides the best view of the entire colon and is typically done every 10 years for average risk people.

Other options include virtual colonoscopies and stool tests with screening intervals every 5 years and annually, respectively.

Among people at high risk for colon cancer, a recent study found that completing an annual fecal immunochemical test (FIT) detected colorectal cancer two years earlier than colonoscopy alone.

What are the Symptoms?

Early stages of colorectal cancer usually don’t have symptoms, which is why it’s important to get screened. However, as the cancer progresses, symptoms may include:

• Bleeding from the rectum or blood in or on the stool
• Change in bowel habits
• Stools that are more narrow than usual
• General problems in the abdomen, such as bloating, fullness or cramps
• Diarrhea, constipation or a feeling in the rectum that the bowel movement isn’t quite complete
• Weight loss for no apparent reason
• Being tired all the time
• Vomiting

If you have any of these symptoms, see your healthcare professional.

How Can I Reduce My Risk?

You can reduce your risk of developing colon cancer by:

• Being physically active for at least 30 minutes, at least five days a week.
• Maintaining a healthy weight.
• Not smoking. If you do smoke, quit.
• Having no more than one drink a day if you’re a woman or two drinks a day if you’re a man.
• Eating plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
• Reducing the amount of red meat you eat and cutting out processed meat.

For more information about colorectal cancer, visit the Colon Cancer Alliance.

Sources:

Prevent Cancer Foundation

Medical News Today

Health Day

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the U.S. is experiencing the biggest outbreak of West Nile virus since 2004 with Texas being the epicenter of the potentially deadly mosquito borne virus. Currently there are over 693 cases in the U.S. with the virus detected in 43 states.

Over 80% of the cases have been reported in six states: Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and California and almost half of all cases were reported in Texas.

It’s difficult to pinpoint why the virus is particularly active this year or why certain parts of the country have a higher number of cases.

Health officials say that a number of factors like weather, heat, precipitation, bird populations that may harbor the virus, mosquitoes that spread the virus, and human behavior can all contribute to West Nile outbreaks.

Prevention

The greatest risk for infection with West Nile virus typically occurs from June through September, with cases peaking in mid-August.

The best way to protect yourself from the West Nile virus is to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes, which often pick up the disease from infected birds. The CDC recommends the following steps to protect yourself:

• Use insect repellents when outside.
• Wear long sleeves and pants from dawn to dusk.
• Don't leave standing water outside in open containers, such as flowerpots, buckets and kiddie pools.
• Install or repair windows and door screens.
• Use air conditioning when possible.

Symptoms and Treatment

Most people (80%) infected with West Nile virus develop no or few symptoms, and the remainder may develop mild symptoms such as headache, joint pain, fever, skin rash and swollen lymph glands.

Less than 1 percent will develop neurological illnesses such as encephalitis or meningitis. People at greater risk for serious illness are those who are older than 50 and who have certain underlying medical conditions such as cancer, diabetes or high blood pressure.

Severe symptoms can include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, loss of vision, numbness and paralysis. These symptoms may last several weeks.

There are no specific treatments for West Nile virus, only managing the symptoms until the virus runs its course.

If you are concerned about exposure to DEET and other pesticides, here are some great tips for safe and natural detoxification.

Sources:

CDC

Health Finder

More common than diabetes or heart disease, thyroid disease affects as many as 30 million Americans – and half of those have yet to be diagnosed. Thyroid disease may be present for years before being detected as symptoms can be mild and vague. Untreated thyroid disease may lead to elevated cholesterol levels and subsequent heart disease, as well as infertility and osteoporosis.

As part of Thyroid Awareness Month, we are spotlighting the importance of this tiny, but important gland and the symptoms and risk factors of thyroid diseases.

Thyroid Importance

The thyroid gland is a small, butterfly-shaped gland located in the base of the neck just below the Adam's apple. The thyroid gland releases hormones into the bloodstream that affect the rate of cellular metabolism throughout the body, including the most important organs: heart, brain, liver, kidneys and skin. Therefore, ensuring that the thyroid gland is healthy and functioning properly is important to the body's overall well-being.

The thyroid doesn’t entirely act on its own. Your pituitary gland releases thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) which stimulates the thyroid to release its hormones. TSH levels in your bloodstream rise or fall depending on whether enough (or too much) thyroid hormone is produced to meet your body’s needs.

Hypothyroidism

When your thyroid produces less than the normal amount of thyroid hormone (hypothyroidism), the result is a slowing down of your metabolism. Although hypothyroidism may be temporary, it is usually a permanent condition. Among those with thyroid dysfunction, most have hypothyroidism. Symptoms of hypothyroidism include:

• Pervasive fatigue
• Drowsiness
• Forgetfulness
• Difficulty with learning
• Dry, brittle hair and nails
• Dry, itchy skin
• Puffy face
• Constipation
• Sore muscles
• Weight gain and fluid retention
• Heavy and/or irregular menstrual flow
• Increased frequency of miscarriages
• Increased sensitivity to many medications

Hyperthyroidism

When your body is exposed to excessive amounts of thyroid hormones due to an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism), symptoms can range from mild to life threatening. As hyperthyroidism progresses, a goiter (enlargement of the thyroid) is usually present along with some of the following symptoms:

• Fast heart rate, often more than 100 beats per minute
• Becoming anxious, irritable, argumentative
• Trembling hands
• Weight loss, despite eating the same amount or even more than usual
• Intolerance of warm temperatures and increased likelihood to perspire
• Loss of scalp hair
• Tendency of fingernails to separate from the nail bed
• Muscle weakness, especially of the upper arms and thighs
• Loose and frequent bowel movements
• Smooth skin
• Change in menstrual pattern
• Increased likelihood for miscarriage
• Prominent "stare" of the eyes
• Protrusion of the eyes, with or without double vision (in patients with Graves’ disease)
• Irregular heart rhythm, especially in patients older than 60 years of age
• Accelerated loss of calcium from bones, which increases the risk of osteoporosis and fractures

Causes and Risk Factors

There are several causes of thyroid disorders including medications, congenital defects, pregnancy, damage to the pituitary gland or hypothalamus, Graves Disease, and autoimmune thyroiditis.

Risk factors include:

• Being female
• Over 50 years of age
• Family history of thyroid disorders
• Personal or family history of autoimmune disorders
• Current or former smoker

Diagnosis and Treatment

Thyroid symptoms can develop so slowly that many patients do not realize they have a problem. So it’s important to make sure that your annual check-up includes a Thyroid Stimulating Hormone or Thyrotropin Test (TSH test). An abnormal level of TSH in the blood is the most accurate indicator of primary (non-pituitary) hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. Production of this pituitary hormone increases when the thyroid gland under-produces thyroid hormone. Conversely, TSH levels decrease when the thyroid is overactive.

If preliminary test results are abnormal, more specific thyroid tests are usually conducted to identify the specific cause of problem.

Depending on the type and degree of dysfunction, treatment many include drug therapy, radioactive iodine treatment, or surgical removal of the thyroid. Learn more about endocrine health here.

Sources:

Empower Your Health

Endocrine Web

WebMD

For the longest time, there's been conflicting theories in the medical community about the evolution of pancreatic cancer, contributing to some 43,000 new cases in 2010 and a mortality rate of about 85 percent in America. Some believe "pancan" is very much a silent killer that grows so slowly that, by the time symptoms are evident, it's often too late to treat it, while others have subscribed to the opposing theory that this disease attacks and spreads aggressively throughout the human body from the start.

Using a new way to decode DNA across the genome rather than one gene at a time, a pair of research teams from John Hopkins Medical Institutions and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the U.K. found answers, after studying pancreatic tumor samples, metastatic lesions and secondary cancers taken from the organs of the same autopsied patients.

It takes a very, very long time -- 11.7 years -- after the appearance of the first cancer-related genetic mutation in a pancreatic cell for the formation of a mature pancreatic tumor to take place. Then, close to seven more years pass before the primary tumor "sends" a metastatic lesion to another organ, and almost three years after that before a patient dies. Overall, more than two decades come and go from the start of the first mutation to a patient's passing, a time frame very similar to that seen in colorectal cancers, American medical experts say.

Researchers in the U.K. group learned that, due to damaged gene signaling, genes become so unstable that all natural controls of cellular division vanish. The few cells that avoid this instability, unfortunately, learn to mutate and survive within the environment of the tumor.

This wonderful news comes at a very opportune time, considering November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. Watch this inspiring story about pancreatic cancer survivor Tyler Noesen, then take a minute or two to learn more about the many efforts out there to beat it.

Nature, Vol. 467, No. 7319, p. 1109-1113, October 28, 2010

Nature, Vol. 467, No. 7319, p. 1114-1117, October 28, 2010

Howard Hughes Medical Institute October 27, 2010

New York Times October 28, 2010