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Can You Trust Your Gut?

#CANSAColorectalCancer #ColorectalCancerAwareness #ActiveBalancedLifestyle

How do you know if your colon is healthy…?

Ranked among the top 3 cancers prevalent in men and women in SA, and with no early symptoms to let you know it’s there, colorectal cancer can sneak up on you, if you are not alert.

CANSA is out to get your attention in an interactive way, to make sure you won’t be caught off guard.

Meet Sizwe and Crystal who star in our colorectal cancer awareness video and discover how their lifestyle choices have affected their colorectal health, and which symptoms they have learned they should not ignore.

You also need to meet Colin. He is a colon! Colin the Colon is a 2 x 3m inflatable tunnel that you can walk through, representing the colorectal tract and you can learn about colorectal cancer by seeing it / touching it for yourself.

Colin is available – invite him to a wellness event or large gathering or your school so that he can show what he is made of inside and out, and how to keep him healthy. Contact info@cansa.org.za for more information.

Fact Finder:

Lowering Your Risk is Possible

CANSA promotes living an active balanced lifestyle and promotes that certain lifestyle changes can lower the risk of cancer.* It further advocates cutting out lifestyle factors that can put one at risk for cancer. Poor lifestyle choices can play a significant part, in increasing risk for colorectal cancer.

Factors increasing risk for colorectal cancer include lifestyle factors such as:

• lack of regular exercise;
• low fruit / vegetable intake;
• low fibre and high fat diet;
• obesity;
• alcohol abuse;
• tobacco use
• poor oral hygiene

Hereditary syndromes (Lynch Syndrome); a personal or family history of polyps or colorectal cancer; inflammatory bowel disease; type 2 Diabetes and old age are other risk factors.***

Assess Your Risk

CANSA offers an online Lifestyle Risk Assessment Tool, that helps identify lifestyle factors which could increase cancer risk, and then provides recommendations on how to change behaviour to lower cancer risk. This can also be done at CANSA Care Centres.

Slideshow

Screening

CANSA recommends regular cancer screening, awareness of your body and family history, as well as leading an active balanced lifestyle.

It’s important to be aware of a family history of colorectal cancer and to take advantage of screening, before symptoms are experienced, and not to wait until experiencing discomfort, as there are no symptoms at the onset of this cancer. Early detection is particularly important.

A colonoscopy, performed by a Gastroenterologist, in symptomatic patients or patients over the age of 50 can detect precancerous polyps in the colon. If these polyps are removed, the chance of developing colorectal cancer can be dramatically reduced. If abnormal symptoms are experienced, or if there is a family history of colorectal cancer, a colonoscopy may be requested at a younger age.

Identifying the presence of blood in the stool, can help detect colorectal cancer early. Faecal Occult at home stool tests (R100), which can be done at home, are available at certain CANSA Care Centres – email info@cansa.org.za for details. If the test is positive (visible red line on test strip) for the presence of blood in the stool, CANSA will provide a referral letter to request a colonoscopy.

Stoma Service

Many colorectal cancer patients have a portion of their bowel and / or colon removed and end up with a permanent stoma. A stoma is an opening on the abdomen that connects to the digestive or urinary system to allow waste to be diverted from the body. It can take a while for a patient to adapt to living with a stoma, so it’s important to seek support from CANSA.

CANSA’s stoma service has an excellent offering of stoma products, accessories and provides patient support. The CANSA Tele Stoma Support Service offers online consultations for stoma patients and their families to assist with challenges or stoma queries. Make an appointment on 0800 22 66 22.

References:
*Ten Ways to Protect Yourself Against Cancer
** National Cancer Registry 2019
*** CANSA Colorectal Cancer Fact Sheet

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