Eating out of colorectal cancer
Eat less fatty meat and squid, konjac and fruits and vegetables to keep healthy
”On average, 753 Chinese people suffer from gastrointestinal tumors every minute, 13 per second!” Recently, at the “‘Standardize Treatment and Spread Health’ 2010 World Cancer Awareness Day – Gastrointestinal Tumor Media Conference” hosted by China Anti-Cancer Association, the Secretary General of China Anti-Cancer Association called for the urgent prevention and treatment of GI tumors, of which Colorectal cancer is the hardest hit area that needs to be strengthened.
In recent years, the incidence of colorectal cancer in China has been on the rise, and the rate of increase has exceeded the international average, reaching 3.9 percent. “At present, the average annual number of new colorectal cancer cases in China has reached 130,000.” Professor Zhu Zhengzang of Ruijin Hospital affiliated with Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine said that the age after 50 is the high incidence of colorectal cancer, and the proportion of young people suffering from colorectal cancer is also climbing. Not long ago, Jiangsu Provincial People’s Hospital also received a small patient with colon cancer at the age of 14.
Excessive intake of animal fats and cholesterol, as well as the obvious lack of dietary fiber are the main causes of bowel cancer. Professor Liu Jianzhong, Director of Colorectal Oncology Department of Tianjin Cancer Hospital, said, “Many carcinogens are fat-soluble, therefore, the more animal fat is consumed in the diet, the greater the risk of dissolving and absorbing carcinogens; in addition, a high-fat diet can increase the secretion of bile acids in the intestine, which is potentially stimulating and damaging to the intestinal mucosa. In the long run, it may induce colorectal cancer.”
In addition to diet, colorectal cancer is also influenced by disease and genetic factors. For example, parents with multiple polyps in the family should pay high attention to it; people who are obese, have inflammation (chronic inflammation of the colon), polyps and gallbladder stones should also be alert to colorectal cancer.
This year’s World Cancer Day, the World Health Organization’s latest recommended amount of fruits and vegetables for cancer prevention is two servings of fruits and five servings of vegetables per day, which can greatly reduce the risk of bowel cancer. Liu Jianzhong recommends eating more foods rich in dietary fiber: konjac, soybeans and their products, algae, etc., and pay attention to supplementing fresh vegetables and fruits. Eat less or no foods rich in saturated fat and cholesterol, such as oil, fatty meat, animal offal, squid, cuttlefish, egg yolk, and palm and coconut oil. Limit vegetable oils (including peanut oil, soybean oil, canola oil, etc.) to about 20-30 grams (about 2-3 tablespoons) per person per day; avoid overheating animal foods and vegetable oils during cooking (including cooking at too high a temperature and heating for too long). Maintain a moderate amount of physical activity daily; maintain a normal body weight.
Look for cancer signs in stool
Although the incidence rate of colorectal cancer is rising, the cure rate of colorectal cancer is still very high as long as it can be detected early. We may monitor the early signals from stool.
Blood in stool. From the clinical cases contacted, 80% of colorectal cancer patients have blood in stool. Therefore, blood in stool is one of the most important early signs of colorectal cancer. Unfortunately, many people do not pay attention to it, or they think that blood in stool is only due to dry stool, or they simply treat it as hemorrhoids, which results in delaying the treatment.
Change in bowel habits. Sudden increase in the frequency of stools, diarrhea, urgency and heaviness, and a feeling of unclean stools.
Change in stool characteristics. Flattening, thinning, or irregularity of stool, or stool with pus, mucus, or dark red stool.
Unexplained anemia. There are many patients who have unexplained anemia but cannot find any cause in the hematology department and have been treated as iron deficiency anemia, which may actually be a sign of colorectal cancer.
In addition, depending on the location of colon cancer, there are different manifestations: the right hemicolectomy is mainly characterized by systemic symptoms, including emaciation, anemia, right abdominal discomfort, etc. The left hemicolectomy is mainly characterized by infarction. The left hemicolectomy is mainly characterized by obstructive symptoms, including abdominal pain, abdominal distension, and occasional palpable masses.
Therefore, we must pay careful attention to our stool in general, and once abnormalities are found and persist for more than 1 week, we must promptly seek medical attention and go to the hospital for tests such as fecal occult blood and anal finger diagnosis to make a clear diagnosis.
Bowel cancer screening is too little done
To detect colorectal cancer early, screening is undoubtedly the most effective means.
”Generally speaking, fecal occult blood, barium enema and colonoscopy can be used as a means to screen for colorectal cancer. But not many people in China are doing screening yet.” Compared with colonoscopy, the accuracy of fecal occult blood test and barium enema are not very high. Although they have some significance, the best screening method is to do colonoscopy, and it can be examined and treated at the same time, and any polyps can be removed on the spot. But the problem is that colonoscopy is really painful, and painless colonoscopy is not yet widely carried out in China, plus there are certain risks, so too few people really go for colonoscopy screening.
No matter how painful it is, those with a genetic history or whose partners have had colorectal cancer should be screened regularly after the age of 40. “Colorectal cancer is also a lifestyle disease, and people who live together, such as couples, can have similar eating habits, etc. If one partner has colorectal cancer, the other partner should pay extra attention. Even if the partner does not have the disease, those who feel that their life is unhealthy, such as those who often eat high-fat food and are sedentary, should be screened in time after the age of 50.”
What the experts find most regrettable is that the current situation of saving patients in China is still far behind that of European and American countries, and patients do not use the full course of treatment before and after surgery, arbitrarily discontinue and change the frequency of chemotherapy, and even some doctors’ prescriptions are not standardized, which can cause problems. “Therefore, standardized treatment is the best way to improve the efficacy.” In addition to traditional surgery, the treatment of colorectal cancer has been developed rapidly in recent years, with the emergence of highly effective chemotherapy drugs and targeted therapy drugs. “Therefore, if colorectal cancer can be detected at an early stage, patients can live just as long and well.”