An interesting and cautionary study for those who've had polyps removed from their colon (especially from the right side and if the polyps had "villous features."  Villous features are hairlike protrusions (from what I can parse from the dictionary.

Please click here to read about the stats...and if you've had five or more polyps removed, if you're older than 55, or if your polyps had hair...don't wait 5 years for your next colonscopy.

There are many warning signs of colon cancer that people tend to overlook.  This link provides a list of physical symptoms that warrant investigation.  The "bottom line" (pun intended) is don't assume that bleeding or stomach issues are benign.  Especially if there's a history of ANY cancer in your family (not just colon cancer).

Cover your butt!

There's so much good information out on the web and in books about colon cancer, my body's (apparent) disease of choice, that I would be wasting my time to try to recreate it here.  So this colon cancer Blog will not be a wiki or anything of the sort regarding this disease.

Instead, I intend to share news I believe will be helpful to folks who are interested in prevention, in determining their risks, or who may (like me) have colon cancer and need some handy links they haven't run across yet.

Today's entry?

A link to a new tool that helps predict one's risk for colon cancer if you are:

A. Over 50

B. Non-hispanic and White.

(I don't make the tools, I just share them so please know I'd rather have a tool that's much more comprehensive/covers more racial groups to share).

Here's the link.  http://www.cancer.gov/colorectalcancerrisk/

Check it out if the shoe fits.