The American Cancer Society estimates that over 100,000 men and women living in the United States will be diagnosed with colon cancer in 2013. Statistically, cancers of the colon and rectum are often combined and referred to as colorectal cancer. This addition brings the total to over 140,000 affected individuals with over 50,000 of these diagnoses resulting in death (American cancer society, 2013). Globally, the impact of this disease reached over one million people in 2008 with over 600,000 deaths attributed to colorectal cancer (Dusek, Maluskova, & Musik, 2013).
Colon cancer is preventable with a healthy diet, exercise, and curable with regular bowel exams. However, signs and symptoms of colon cancer usually do not present until the cancer is advanced which results in a less favorable prognosis. Routine colon screens may lead to a diagnosis at an early stage in the progression and can reduce the number of deaths from this disease even when the individual is genetically predisposed to colon cancer (Colon cancer, 2013).
The colon is an integral part of the digestive system. It consists of the last five or six feet of the intestines. There are four layers of tissue that make up the colon. The mucosa, submucosa, muscular layer and the serosa. Matter moves through the lumen small intestine rather quickly and the majority of nutrients are absorbed. Then, the waste travels slowly through the lumen of the colon where water is absorbed and fiber is broken down by bacteria. This process forms the fecal matter that is then stored in the colon until peristaltic waves of smooth muscle continue the motility toward the rectum and anus for defecation (Butler, Lewis, & Shier, 2013)
Certain factors increase an individuals risk of the epithel...
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...n tumor for a duration of time to prevent a relapse of the disease from occurring (McCartney & Oberleitner, 2011).
Colon cancer can be a fatal disease, or it can be stopped before it even begins. A healthy preventative diet of lean meats and foods high in fiber accompanied be a physically active lifestyle can reduce the risk of this disease forming in the colon. Prevention strategies also must include routine colonocsopies for those at risk either through age or history. This early detection tool is crucial for providing insight to the current condition of the colon.
If colon cancer is inevitable the individuals who undergo regular bowel screens have a better prognosis than those who do not. Waiting for symptoms to appear often reduces the rate of remission. However, effective treatments are available for all stages of colon cancer and the result is a longer life.
Cancer is one of the 9 National Health Priority Areas (NHPA), areas which account for a significant portion of the burden of disease, but have sizeable potential for improvement. In Australia, CRC is the second most common cancer, after prostate (in men) and breast cancer (in women) (AIHW, Cancer incidence projections). The incidence has gradually increased (by 13% in males from 1982-2007) (AIHW, Cancer in Australia an overview). This is compounded by the ageing population and population growth, with 14,860 new cases in 2010 (http://www.cancer.org.au/about-cancer/types-of-cancer/bowel-cancer). This graph demonstrates this upward trend ((AIHW, Cancer incidence projections):
Colorectal cancer, or CRC, affects African American men and women more than Caucasians, at a rate 20% higher. This is concerning when faced with the mortality rates among African Americans, 28% higher for women and 14% higher for men than for Whites. African Americans are also more likely to be in later stages of the disease when diagnosed. There is a need to study and evaluate why these factors exist, as proper screening and early diagnosis can severely impact survival rates for CRC. One study attempts to find the solution through testing, however, this study slightly discredits itself along the way.
What the recent studies are showing is pretty scary. Our country has the highest number of colon-rectal cancer cases being reported in the entire world. And the disease is equally extensive among males as they are in females. In fact the disease today is killing more Americans than it ever did before. To some it is too embarrassing a subject to talk about. But it must be realized that cancer and deaths resulting from that are much more serious things and should be dealt brushing aside all sorts of inhibitions.
"Red meat and colon cancer." Harvard Health Publications. Harvard, Mar. 2008. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.
The small intestine empties into the cecum. The cecum along with the large colon make up the large intestine. Digestion in the large intestine occurs by bacteria and protozoa. arg.gov.sk.ca - arg.gov.sk.ca - arg.gov.sk.ca - arg.gov.sk.ca - arg.gov The energy content found in feeds and how it is measured in Kilocalories (kcal).
The digestive system otherwise known as the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract) is a long tube which runs from the mouth to the anus. It operates to break down the food we eat from large macromolecules such as starch, proteins and fats, which can’t be easily absorbed, into readily absorbable molecules such as glucose, fatty acids and amino acids. Once broken down, these molecules can cross the cells lining the small intestine, enter into the circulatory system and be transported around the body finally being used for energy, growth and repair.
Large Intestine- The large intestine is made of 3 parts; the cecum, the colon, and the rectum. Some refer to the large intestine as the colon, because the colon contains four separate parts; the ascending colon, the transverse colon, the descending colon, and the sigmoid colon (WebMD (2).) The cecum connects the small and the large intestine, acting as a transition area for food to travel. The ascending colon takes feces from the cecum to the transverse colon, during this process, bacteria digest fecal matter for the release of vitamins. The longest part of the colon, the transverse colon, is where the most absorption within the large intestine takes place. The descending colon transports feces from the transverse colon to the sigmoid colon. The descending colon walls also absorb water, nutrients, and vitamins from the feces, and can store the feces until it is read to be eliminated. The sigmoid colon can also
Colon cancer develops in the part of the gastrointestinal tract that absorbs water and minerals before waste products are disposed via the rectum. In women endometrial cancer is related to colon cancer. This type of cancer is the second leading cause of death due to cancer in the United States. Over one-hundred fifty thousand individuals will be diagnosed this year and this cancer will probably be responsible for about 47,900 deaths in 1999 (http://www.cancer.org). Most colon cancers are adenocarcinomas that develop from the glandular cells. Ninety percent of all colon cancer cases will develop in individuals after 50 years of age. Ninety percent of all tumors arise from polyps that are commonly found in people older than 50. Prevention includes regular exercise and a diet high in fiber. The most important risk factor is age. Medical screening includes a yearly blood occult test after age 50 and a colonoscopy every 3 years after age 50. Regular screening detects polyps that have become precancerous. If regular screening is not done, the cancer is not detected until blood is found in the...
As the digestive system breaks down your food, after it's broken down it turns into energy. Your circulatory system takes some the produced energy and transports it around the body, delivering it and other blood, nutrients, oxygen, and more compounds to every cell in your body. The digestive depends on the circulatory as much as it does vice versa because they need the blood, nutrients, and energy (broken down food) that was produced from both systems. Many digestive organs need to use about 30% of cardiac output. Both the digestive and circulatory systems get rid of unwanted or unneeded materials (waste) and feces (poop). The vial substances are absorbed by the small intestine, where it is put into the bloodstream, so it can be circulated around the body. The most important thing is that with no nutrients and circulation, there's no life.
During digestion, the body breaks down food into smaller molecules that could then be used by the body’s cells and tissues in order to perform functions. This starts off in the mouth with the physical movements of chewing and the chemical breakdown by saliva. Enzymes in the stomach break food down further after traveling from the mouth through the esophagus. The food from here then moves into the small intestine, where pancreatic juices and enzymes dissolve proteins, carbohydrates, and fibers, and bile from the liver breaks down fats into these small molecules. Any portion of the fibers or food that were unable to be broken down are passed from the small intestine to the large intestine, which is where the digestive tract transitions into the excretory tract, then the colon and out of the rectum. Any liquids that have been stripped of their nutrients by the body proceed from the stomach to the kidneys. In the kidneys, sodium ions (Na+), uric acid, and urea are exchanged with water, which moves urinary bladder and is excreted through the
Jose Baselga, a lead Physician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York said, “The next 10 years are expected to usher in unprecedented advances in oncology, including molecularly driven diagnostic and therapeutic developments, whole genome sequencing that results in true precision-based medicine, survivorship care plans that address long-term quality of life concerns, and team-based, cross-disciplinary approaches to research.”(Advances in Medical). This educated guess by Dr. Baselga can lead us to believe that our education about cancer grows with every new account and new procedure that we complete. In the next decade, our understanding of Oncology will be revolutionized in the hope that it will bring us closer to our intended goal of defeating this monstrous disease. Oncology is a flourishing field that is and will be in high demand in the 21st Century because when a problem has been confirmed to be present the human task force will go to various lengths in order to find a solution. Now that Oncology has found a way to presently deal with cancer such as chemotherapy, addressing long term effects of those solutions will be an area that will be focused on as Oncology takes steps forwards towards a cure. Another concentration in Oncology that will develop in the next 10 years will be the prevention of
Colorectal cancers are thought to develop slowly over a period of several years. Before a true cancer develops, there usually are precancerous changes in the lining of the colon or rectum. These changes might be dysplasia or adenomatous polyps. A polyp is a growth of tissue into the center of the colon or rectum. Some types of polyps (hyperplastic polyps and inflammatory polyps) are not precancerous. However, having adenomatous polyps, also known as adenomas, does increase a person’s risk of developing cancer, especially if there are many polyps or they are large.
...he Buttermilk White bread. The food makes its way to the transverse colon and extra nutrients are released form the cellulose of the undigested particles. It continues on to the descending colon. There I start to manufacture vitamin K and other B-complex vitamins. Those are then absorbed into my large intestine.
Everyone is born with certain genetic mutations that make the them more likely to develop cancer in a later time in life. Though they might have a genetic feature, cancer will not develop unless triggered by environmental factors such as air and water pollution. As a matter of fact, my grandfather started smoking alongside consuming heavy amounts of alcohol around the age of 15, smoking and heavy alcohol intake have been considered as one of the potential causes of colon
The human digestion system is very complex. It starts with the mouth, salivary glands, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, small intestine, large intestine, then ends/exits with the anus. Each step is essential to the whole system. For example, the mouth chews food and mixes it with saliva produced by the salivary glands, and then the pharynx swallows chewed food mixed with saliva, this is followed by the food traveling through the esophagus to the stomach where the food gets a bath and mixes with acids and enzymes. After the stomach, the liver, pancreas, and gallbladder produce, stores, and releases bile and bicarbonates. Bile is produced in the liver and aids in digestion and absorption of fat while the gallbladder stores bile and releases it into the small intestine when needed. Following the process into the small intestine, this is where nutrients will be absorbed into the blood or lymph (most digestion occurs here). Next is the large intestine this is where water and some vitamins and minerals are absorbed. Finally, it is the end of the road, the anus. At...