Fast food causes colorectal cancer

Population based studies show a rising trend in the incidence of large bowel cancer in India Tumours of the colon and rectum are abnormal growths arising from the inner wall of the large bowel. Malignant tumours of the large intestine are called cancers. There are certain rare hereditary syndromes where abnormal numbers of polyps are present; such patients are more prone to develop bowel cancer.

Cancer of the colon and rectum (also referred as colorectal cancer) can invade and damage adjacent tissues and organs. Cancer cells can also break away and spread to other parts of the body such as liver and lungs where new tumors form. Such spread of colon cancer to distant organs is called metastases of the colon cancer. In countries where people have adopted western diet, the incidence of colorectal cancer is increasing. The overall higher caloric consumption, increased dietary fat and reduced fibre have been shown to be linked to the incidence of colorectal cancer. Population based studies show a rising trend in the incidence of large bowel cancer in India. In recent years, India has seen a rapid upsurge in fast food culture which has been adopted from the west and is now a lifestyle pattern in many urban cities in the country. Fast food is low in dietary fibre, high in fat content and generally non vegetarian. Such eating habits adopted at young age become a lifestyle choice for many and probably increase the chance of colorectal cancer.A Symptoms of colon cancer include fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath, change in bowel habits, narrow stools diarrhea and constipation, red or dark blood in stool, weight loss, abdominal pain, cramps or bloating. The most effective prevention of colon cancer is to detect and remove pre-cancerous colon polyps before they turn cancerous. Even in cases where cancer has already developed, early detection significantly improves the chances of a cure by surgically removing the cancer before the disease spreads to other organs. Therefore, screening for colo-rectal cancer with various tests like Colonoscopy, Sigmoidoscopy, Faecal Occult Blood Testing (FOBT) and double-barium contrast enema.

Colorectal cancer management: - Surgery, depending on the location and particular characteristics of the tumor a part of the colon or entire colon can be removed. - Radiation treatment is the use of high energy rays (For example X-Rays) to kill tumour cells or to reduce tumour size. After surgery, radiation can kill small areas of tumor that may be missed during surgery; radiation may reduce tumor size and thus improve the chances that the complete tumor will be removed successfully. - Chemotherapy is a treatment using anti- cancer drugs. These drugs can be injected or given orally. Chemotherapy is sometimes used before surgery in an attempt to shrink the tumour. - Targeted therapy uses drugs which attack specific targets on cancer cells without harming normal cells. (The doctor is MS (Gen), DNB (Surg), Mch (Surg, Onco), FRCS (Edin) Diploma in lap Surg (France) Vamsy1964@gmail.com 9848011421)