Dr Luke Crantock has been in the Berwick area for 24 years and specialises in all things Gastroenterological. He spoke about bowel cancer and how to diagnose and prevent it. It is most prevalent in the Western World and one of the most common types of cancer. Many cases can be preventable with screening and lifestyle changes. It is rare under 50 years of age.
Signs and symptoms include:
Consider family history, rectal Bleeding, altered bowel habit, abdominal Pain and unexplained weight loss.
Non Modifiable Risk Factors are:
age, personal and family history, race
Modifiable risk factors are:
diet, physical activity, obesity, smoking and alcohol use.
Reccomendations to prevent Bowel Cancer:
Avoid sedentary behaviour, 30-60 minutes per day of vigorous physical activity, Maintain a healthy BMI, Avoid abdominal fatness, Avoid or limit alcohol (men), Increase cereal fibre, Up to 100g red meat per day, Avoid smoking, Milk and calcium are probably protective
Benefits of Screening:
Cancer Prevention, Removal of pre-cancerous polyps prevent cancer, Improved survival, Early detection markedly improves chances
of long term survival, 68% chance surviving 5 years from diagnosis
Key Points:
Lifestyle Measures, Identify risk, Screening for asymptomatic patients, 33% reduction in mortality with early detection, Colonoscopy reduces incidence by up to 72%, Colonoscopy reduces mortality by up to 68%
Much hilarity and interest from most, but not all members ensured by close inspection of a CLEAN colonoscope. The amount of questions showed how interesting and informative our speaker was.
PS: go and have a colonoscopy, its not as bad as what you think.
Tom Mikolajewski spoke about the recent weekend at the RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards).
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