Here is Renee's interview with Dr. Neil Parikh, a Gastroenterologist at Connecticut GI, about Colon Cancer and Colon Cancer Awareness Month. Dr. Parikh discusses the signs and symptoms, important stats, and everything you need to know about the disease.
Listen below for all of the information you need to know.
According to CT GI:
Colon cancer is the most common cancer of the digestive system. Over 140,000 cases are diagnosed, and almost 50,000 people succumb to the disease annually in the United States.
Fortunately, unlike many other cancers, effective screening tools are available that can detect colon cancer in its early stages. Typically, colon cancer begins as a polyp which evolves, or degenerates, into a cancer over a period of years. If polyps are detected and removed early, cancer can be prevented. While several colon cancer screening methods are available, colonoscopy is considered the gold standard as it goes beyond polyp detection. In most cases, polyps are removed during the procedure. In addition, when cancer itself is detected on a screening exam, it is often at an early, curable stage. It has been more than 10 years since screening colonoscopy has gained wide acceptance, and that decade has seen a steady decline in both new diagnoses of colon cancer and colon cancer deaths.
For more information and to book an appointment, visit https://connecticutgi.org/