An article published by WebMD on December 13, 2011 highlights a new study published by the Archives of Internal Medicine. The article highlighted some notable statistics:

• Between 1998 and 2007 colorectal cancer cases have dropped steadily in adults over 50, but they increased by more than 2% each ear in younger adults, as much as 4% for rectal cancers, and 3% for colon cancer.
• Younger adults were more likely than older adults to be diagnosed with late-stage cancers.
• People in their 30s were about 30% more likely than other age groups to be diagnosed with cancers in stage III or IV.
• When a patients in their 30s or 40s present with symptoms like bleeding, abdominal pain, or change in bowel habits doctors and patients alike are less like to suspect cancer and there fore diagnosis is delayed.

Advise to patients?

• Just because you’re under 50, doesn’t mean your not at risk
• If you have a family history, go talk to your doctor, especially if that relative got colon cancer before they were 50.

- Advise from Anthony, Starpoli, MD, a gastroenterolist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, as told to WebMD.

To read the full article published on December 13, visit WebMD.com.

October has become ubiquitous with the pink ribbons and campaigns for breast cancer awareness. Get Your Rear in Gear is a firm believer that awareness and research for one cancer is good for all cancers. We would, however, be remiss if we let this month go by without showcasing some numbers showing the comparison of colorectal cancers to breast cancer.

While a lot has been done for colorectal awareness since Susie Lindquist Mjelde lost her life in 2002, we believe these numbers show we still have a long way to go.

From the American Cancer Society:

• Colon cancer screening rates are lower than breast cancer screening rates across the country (screening rates vary by state)
• The 5 year colon cancer survival rates are not as high as breast cancer (90% vs 65%)
• Colon cancer mortality is higher than breast cancer (nearly 50,000 deaths versus nearly 40,000)

One big differentiation between the two cancers is that more of the colon cancer deaths are preventable (especially if more polyps are caught and removed through increased colonoscopy screening).

These stats and others are available from the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Facts & Figures page.

Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month is in March.  The official color for colorectal cancer awareness is blue. Consider joining one of the ten Get Your Rear in Gear events currently scheduled in March 2012 to help raise awareness for this preventable, treatable, beatable cancer.

All well and good, some may say. But its can seem so vague in terms of actionable cancer prevention steps, it gets tuned out like the garbled  “mwa mwa mwa” of Charlie Brown’s teacher as we go for the chips anyway.

But take note: Two leading doctors out of Stanford and Yale announced astonishing statistics that bring diet and cancer prevention into sharp focus.

“60% of cancer is preventable by diet,” say Dr. John Farquhar, founder of Stanford’s Prevention Research Center at Stanford University Medical School, and Dr. David L. Katz, Director of the  Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine.

60% of cancer . . . preventable by diet?

Why those are betting person’s odds.

Put another way, imagine you had a 60% chance of getting on a free flight to Hawaii just by showing up to the airport.  “Heck I’d go if I had a 30% chance!” said this piece’s editor.

Eat a handful of berries and broccoli everyday and you raise your odds of getting on the plane, or more to the point, living cancer-free, according to Drs. Farquhar and Katz findings.

“There’s still uncertainty about how important nutrition is in cancer prevention, but I’ve found that if you deal with specific foods, there’s evidence that they all have cancer-fighting nutrients,” said  Farquhar to the San Francisco Chronicle.  “As opposed to genetics, nutrition is something that people can control.”

What anti-cancer foods does he prescribe to achieve the 60% odds-on-favor of living cancer-free?

And what’s the science behind these docs’ pronouncement? We’ll discuss more in coming weeks.

Here’s a place to start.

Top Anti-Cancer Foods from “Best Diet Ever,”
by Stanford University’s Dr. Farquhar

Add the following anti-cancer super-stars to your and your family’s daily diet, as Farquhar recommends in his popular course Best Diet Ever (below). As GYRIG founder Kristin likes to say, “Let’s do it!”

What: Broccoli
How Much: 1/2 cup of cooked or raw broccoli or other anti-cancer cruciferous veggies
(bok choy, cauliflower, swiss chard, cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli raab)
How Often: Once-a-day to aid in prevention of colorectal cancer

What: Berries, especially blueberries
How Much: 1 cup
How Often: Once-a-day for antioxidants to help ward off cell damage that can lead to  cancer

What: Onions
How Much: 1/4 cup of onions, garlic, leeks or shallots
How Often: Once-a-day for several anti-cancer agents effects

What: “Rainbow Vegetables” (red, orange, yellow, white, green or purple in color)
How Much: 1/2 cup
How Often: Three daily servings provides even more disease-preventing micronutrients                                 that could potentially help fight off cancer

What: Tomatoes
How Much: 1/2 cup cooked or 1 cup raw tomatoes
How Often: Three-times-a-week to help prevent cancer, especially prostate cancer

More: “Nutrition to Reduce Cancer Risk”, Stanford Medicine Cancer Center

GYRIG Recipe Pick: “Steamed Broccoli with Toasted Sesame Seeds”

Candy corn is a top seller on Halloween

Before you raid your son or daughter’s Halloween cache, you may want to know what you’re really eating. The price you pay for a weak moment near the plastic pumpkin may be more than a sour face when your child discovers that his bounty has been raided. These are nutritional facts for the five most popular Halloween candies. The numbers seem fairly innocuous, but remember that it is rare to eat only one serving of any of these favorites.

Top 5 Halloween candies

1. Candy Corn
140 calories, 0 grams fat, 0 grams protein, 36 grams carbohydrate, 31 grams sugar per serving (44 pieces)
2. Snickers Bar
99 calories, 5 grams fat, 1.5 grams protein, 12 grams carbohydrate, 10 grams sugar per fun-sized bar
3. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup
88 calories, 5 grams fat, 2 grams protein, 9 grams carbohydrate, 8 grams of sugar per cup
4. Kit Kat Bar
52 calories, 3 grams fat, 1 gram protein, 6 grams carbohydrate, 5 grams sugar per fun-sized bar
5. Milky Way
77 calories, 3 grams fat, 1 gram protein, 12 grams carbohydrate, 10 grams sugar per fun-sized bar

Photo source

Screening tools help guide patients to physicians who can find cancer in it's early stages

In an effort to improve colon cancer awareness and education, Rush Health Associates in Chicago has developed an online Colon Cancer Screening Tool.  The online survey evaluates key factors such as lifestyle habits and family history to provide an immediate assessment and recommendation for screening.  The screening tool is anonymous, easy to use and takes only minutes to complete.

In addition to providing users with a screening assessment, the online tool is full of educational information about colon cancer, screening costs and insurance information, national colon cancer screening guidelines and a glossary of related terms and definitions.  For anyone who is on the fence about getting screened or is hesitant about making the call to get more information, this tool is a perfect first step.

According to information provided by the organization, Rush Health Associates is a not for profit organization whose members include Rush University Medical Center, Rush Oak Park Hospital and approximately 700 physicians who are on the medical staff of its hospital members.  The goals of RHA health improvement programs are to encourage patients to be actively involved in their personal health and to give providers additional tools to manage their patient’s care. Primary care physicians are monitored on how many of their eligible patients have been screened for colon cancer. Feedback provided by primary care physicians within the RHA system indicated that since the actual screening guidelines vary based on individual characteristics such as family history and symptoms, many patients were unclear about whether or not a colon cancer screening procedure was necessary. The Colon Cancer Screening Tool was developed in cooperation with gastroenterology physicians so that patients could take the test and get a more specific action plan.

The Colon Cancer Screening Tool was developed several years ago solely for Rush Health Associates patients but recently has been made available on their public website so that anyone can take advantage of it.  Theresa Burkhart, senior director at Rush Health Associates, encourages Colon Cancer Coalition readers to take the assessment.  “The more people who take it the better!”  she says.

Rush Health Associates Colon Cancer Screening Tool

Colorectal cancer advocates from around the country joined together tonight for three days of trainings and strategizing that will culminate in meetings with their Members of Congress on Capitol Hill.

Advocates from every corner of the country traveled to Washington, DC, in support of legislation that will create a National Colorectal Cancer Screening Program – something that is desperately needed if we are to make colorectal cancer a disease that is no more deadly than the common cold.

“I’m so excited to be here again – this is my third Call-on Congress!” stated Marilia Sardinha, a C3 advocate from Maine. “It is wonderful to see this many people who are so committed and passionate about this disease that they would fly cross-country to join the fight.”

The advocates have two long days ahead of them. Tomorrow, March 23rd, they will receive training from professionals in grassroots advocacy and colorectal cancer policy. They will also hear from Representative Jim Moran (D-VA), who will speak to them about the importance of elected officials hearing from their constituents on issues that are important to them.

From Left, Mandy Nelson, Amy Klobuchar, Lisa Sanderson, Cindy Iverson & Brenda Elsagher.

On Tuesday, March 24th, they will take what they have learned to meetings with their own legislators – their two senators and representative – to make the case for the passage of HR 1189, the Colorectal Cancer Prevention, Early Detection and Treatment Act, as well as legislation that would create a colorectal cancer research program at the Department of Defense.

Stay tuned for updates from Call-on Congress 2009, or follow the Call-on Congress fun on Twitter!

-Written by Joe Arite

Carlea Bauman, Patrick Kennedy, and Kate Murphy

According to screening guidelines provided by the American Cancer Society, AGA, America College of Gastroenterology and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy these tests may include:

• Colonoscopy screenings every 10 years
• Flexible sigmoidoscopy or double contrast barium enema screenings every five years
• Fecal occult blood tests (FOBT) or fecal immunochemical test (FIT) every year
• FOBT or FIT plus a flexible sigmoidoscopy every five years.

Twenty six states, including eight of the nine Get Your Rear In Gear states received passing grades on the report card.  Minnesota, which received a C grade, recently pushed legislation through the Senate Health, Housing and Family Security Committee to help residents of that state gain greater access to affordable screening procedures.  To see how your state fared read the full report.

The coalition suggested taking the following steps to demand action in your community:

• Reach out to legislators.  Log on to www.nccra.org to find contact information for your local decision makers.  Send an email or make a quick call if you don’t like your state’s grade.
• Talk to your employer.  Ask if their health plan covers colorectal cancer screening, and if not, encourage them to consider it.
• Contact your insurance provider. Understand what screenings your policy covers and what it does not.
• Check in with family and friends.  Share this report (at nccra.org) with them and encourage them to talk to their doctor about getting screened.

Education about colon cancer prevention is making a difference.  But as this report card indicates, there is still work to be done both nationally and in local towns and communities.  For a complete list of Get Your Rear In Gear events across the country or to learn how to organize an event in your town go to GetYourRearIn Gear.com

“Women who got the most calcium from food and supplements had a lower risk of all cancer and a 23% lower risk of cancers of the digestive system than those who got the least.”

The recommended daily allowance of calcium increases for adults as they age.  The National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements recommends 1200 mg/day for adults over the age of 51 and 1000 mg/day for those between 19 and 50 years of age.  While  supplements have become increasingly popular, “most Americans should consider their intake of calcium from all foods including fortified ones before adding supplements to their diet to help avoid the risk of reaching levels at or near the tolerable upper limit for calcium (2500 mg)”, according to the agency.

Calcium rich foods can be found in almost any aisle of the grocery store.  If dairy products rich in calcium are not your favorite foods, consider adding green leafy vegetables to your diet.  One cup of cooked spinach provides 300 mg of calcium, the same amount provided by an 8 oz glass of skim milk.  Ready-to-eat cereals are another great source.  Fortified cereals can provide anywhere from 236 to 1043 milligrams of calcium.  A more complete list of calcium rich foods, along with tips for improving the body’s ability to absorb this important nutrient can be found on the Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet provided by the National Institutes of Health.