Katie Couric Colon Cancer

The Katie Couric colon cancer effect is one of the phrases that came about when the popular daytime television show host showed her colonoscopy for colorectal cancer to the public. Ever since her husband died of colon cancer back in 1998, Katie Couric has been trying to increase public awareness of the said disease.

People have often been unmindful of colon cancer. They think that it is just something to be ignored. Even if it has been stated as the number one cancer killer in the US, people still have done very little to prevent the disease. However, with Katie Couric, colon cancer has become popular in the sense that now, people more willingly submit their selves for the screening tests of the said cancer.

Colon cancer is caused by growth of malignant cells in the colon. Some of the causes are high saturated fat and simple sugar content in the diet, low protein and fiber diet, sedentary lifestyle, tobacco smoke and alcoholic drinks, and familial predisposition.

Katie Couric Colon Cancer programs intend to instil an awareness that colon cancer could afflict anyone and its early detection through tests is most vital.

Many people know about these as causes of the cancer but they do not do anything about it. Instead, they eat a lot of junk foods and foods from fast food joints. These foods are usually high in saturated fat, sodium, and simple sugars. Also, these foods contain ingredients that are said to be carcinogenic.

Other than eating unhealthy foods, many people enjoy the sedentary lifestyle. They sit and watch television the whole day. Others just lounge around doing nothing, while others pretty much sleep the whole day through and getting up only to eat. What do these activities result to? People get overweight, some become obese, and all of them have diseases such as heart problems and colon cancer to name a few.

Tobacco smoke and drinking alcoholic beverages too much are always bad. These not only promote or trigger the development of cancer cells, these also help harmless polyps to become cancerous.

If there’s one thing that people cannot avoid it’s that colon cancer is familial. This means that if a parent has it, there is a great tendency for his/ her child to have it later on. This certainly puts an individual at great risk and possibility of having the cancer. As it is, the best thing a person whose family members have the cancer is to do everything that can help prevent the disease as well as submit his/herself for screening tests.

The Katie Couric colon cancer awareness program has always given great emphasis on the screening tests. This is why she showed a video of her own colonoscopy. There are a lot of tests that can screen for colon cancer. Some of these are annual digital rectal exam, barium enema, occult blood test, sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, and x-ray.

Many often question on the importance of screening tests. This shouldn’t be so since screening tests are always musts before the doctor orders for diagnostic tests. Why is this so? There are two answers.

First, screening tests help narrow down the cause of the signs and symptoms experienced by the individual. Because signs and symptoms are not that specific for a disease, it is imperative that these be checked out if indeed they are caused by colon cancer.

Second, screening tests allow people to save time, money, and effort. Diagnostic tests are well known for their high prices, length of time to wait for the results to arrive, as well as need huge amounts of guts to undergo it. This is why it is only practical to screen for colon cancer before subjecting yourself to the things that diagnostic tests can put you through. If in case you do screen negative for the cancer, the there is no need for you to have the diagnostic tests.

There are two diagnostic exams for colon cancer and these are sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy. Both of these tests allow the doctor to see if your colon has any abnormalities in it. These two may be a bit different but they all end in one thing to become a diagnostic tool: biopsy. With this, the doctor is able to examine if the cells have mutated and turned cancerous or not. The result of the Katie Couric colon cancer awareness campaign was a positive one. Today, people not only know more about it, they have also become active participants in preventing it.

Katie Couric Colon Cancer-Top