The lifestyle that leads to colon cancer is living a lifestyle with not enough physical activity, living a sedentary lifestyle, smoking, excessive alcohol intake and eating unhealthy, including eating too much processed foods and red meat can lead to colon cancer development.
The vitamins that help prevent colon cancer are Vitamin D, Vitamin B9, Folate, Vitamin B6, Calcium and Vitamin D.
These vitamins can be obtained through diet and sunlight.
Also calcium that is paired with Vitamin D is also protective against colon cancer.
Vitamin D3 is also essential for regulating of intestinal cells and lowering cancer incidence.
Sources of Vitamin D3 are sunlight exposure, fatty fish and fortified dairy.
Getting regular exercise also reduces your risk of developing colon polyps and inhibits the progression of the colon polyps to cancer.
Exercising at least one hour per week can also decrease the chance of occurrence d prevalence of precancerous polyps also known as adenomatous polyps, by up to one third.
And there's greater reductions in larger and more aggressive polyps.
Physically active people have a lower risk of developing colon polyps or colorectal polyps when compared to people who are inactive and live a sedentary lifestyle.
The age that people start getting colon polyps is often around age 45 and up.
The age of 45 and up is when standard colonoscopy screening for average risk people should start as colon polyps commonly start to develop in adults around the age of 45 and above.
The risk of colon polyps also increases significantly after age 45, which is when colon polyps can develop earlier as well.
Colon polyps are found in around 25 percent to 30 percent of adults that are age 45 or older and roughly around 40 percent of those people over the age of 50.
If you have a family history of colon polyps or colon cancer, or genetic syndromes or even conditions like IBD or inflammatory bowel disease then screening for colon polyps is usually recommended sooner.
African Americans often begin screening for colon polyps by age 45 due to a higher risk of developing precancerous polyps.
And although rare, colon polyps can also occur in people who are younger, although they become more frequent as you age.
Colon polyps often cause no symptoms, so early regular screening through a colonoscopy is needed to prevent the colon polyps from possibly turning into cancer.
Colon polyps often take between 10 to 15 years to turn cancerous.
Precancerous colon polyps or adenoma don't turn into cancer very quickly in most cases and take on average as long as 10 yers years to 15 years to turn cancerous.
Polyps turning cancerous is a very slow process and so it requires regular on time screening through a colonoscopy to detect and remove the colon polyps early enough so that they don't turn into cancer.
Some colon polyps may develop faster, but the average slow timeline for polyps allows for a wide and multi year window to remove them after they find them.
Not all colon polyps turn cancerous and only 5 percent to 10 percent of all colon polyps become cancerous.
Having more than 5 polyps during a colonoscopy is often considered high risk and requires a follow up within 3 years instead of the normal 5 to 10 years.
Having 3 or less polyps in a colonoscopy is often considered low risk, with a follow up colonoscopy within 5 to 10 years.
Having 3 or 4 polyps in a colonoscopy might require you to have a follow up colonoscopy in 3 years to 5 years.
And having 5 to 10 polyps in a colonoscopy is considered high risk and requires follow up colonoscopies within 3 years or sometimes sooner.
However it's also better to have 5 benign polyps like hyperplastic polyps, than it is to have 2 higher risk polyps, like tubular adenomas.
The most common thing found on a colonoscopy are colon polyps, which are often small growths that are benign or non cancerous.
The polyps that are often found during a colonoscopy are located on the lining of the colon and are found in around 30 percent to 50 percent of adult colonoscopy screenings.
Most colon polyps that are found on a colonoscopy are harmless and are often easily removed during the colonoscopy procedure to prevent any potential development into colon cancer.
Other common findings on a colonoscopy are hemorrhoids and diverticulosis.
Diverticulosis are small, bulging pouches in your colon wall and are common in older adults.
Hemorrhoids are swollen veins in your anus or lower rectum and the most common type of polyp found in a colonoscopy screening are adenomatous polyps, which is considered precancerous if not removed.
Although in many cases, the colon is found to be healthy during a colonoscopy.
A doctor may not remove a polyp during a colonoscopy if the polyp is too large like (>20 mm), flat or if the polyp is located in a difficult area.
Or if the risk of bleeding or a bowel perforation is too high then the doctor may not remove a polyp during a colonoscopy.
The complex polyps often require the use of specialized and separate procedures to safely remove, like surgery or endoscopic mucosal resection.
Very large or flat polyps that are sometimes called sessile polyps are harder to snare and remove during a colonoscopy and can require advanced and specialized techniques to remove safely and completely.
After polyp removal you may need to stay in the hospital for 1 to 2 hours after waking up from the anesthesia.
Unless the polyp is large, complex or required surgical resection, then you can go home the same day after the polyp removal.
But if the polyp is large, complex or did require any surgical resection, then you may need to stay in the hospital for 2 days to 7 days.
After polyp removal you should not eat any solid foods immediately after undergoing the colon polyp removal.
Instead of eating solid foods, immediately after the colon poly removal, you should begin by drinking a few spoonful's of water 2 hours.
After the first day of the colon polyp removal, you can start eating solid foods again.
The healing process after colon polyp removal can take up to 2 weeks.
And you don't have to change your general activity during the 2 weeks of healing, although you might be advised by the doctor to avoid all heavy lifting or strenuous exercise for at least 2 weeks after the colon polyp removal, which includes heavy housework, sports and work.
Colon polyp removal is not painful as the lining of your colon lacks pain receptors.
Because the colon lining has no pain receptors, removing the colon polyps from the colon results in no pain.
However the colon polyp removal procedure is done during a colonoscopy and during sedation, which also ensures that you feel no pain during the colonoscopy or colon polyp removal as well.
During a colonoscopy and colon polyp removal, you may feel some slight pressure or minor discomfort and possible cramping instead of any sharp pain.
The colon has no nerve endings for pain, so any cutting or burning also known as cauterizing the polyp for removal does not hurt.
During the colonoscopy itself, you are often sedated and under light sedation or twilight sleep, which makes the experience of a colonoscopy and or colon polyp removal comfortable, and most people who have a colonoscopy or colon polyp removal have no memory of the procedure.
If you do feel anything during the colonoscopy and colon polyp removal, it's often just vague pressure or a dull period like cramp feeling.
And after the colonoscopy and colon polyp removal, you may feel bloated or have gas pains for up to a day, which is normal and can be relieved through walking and moving around.