But a simple vitamin regimen can prevent colon cancer and even reverse recurrent polyps.
To beat colon cancer, conventional medicine realizes its far better to prevent than to treat. Colon cancer is very difficult to treat, so this is the right way to handle the disease.
Unfortunately, three of the most popular prevention methods do not work. The first preventive darling is aspirin. The makers of Americas most popular pill have long touted it as an effective preventive against heart disease and colon cancer. It was discredited as a heart protector a few years ago. And now a new study shows that not only does aspirin not prevent colon cancer, it can cause other intestinal problems.
The study was conducted at Harvard Medical School. Study co-author Dr. Andrew Chan and his team of researchers followed 83,000 nurses and found that aspirins anti-cancer effect is only effective after a decade of continuous use. Even worse, in order to see these results, you have to take aspirin at doses high enough to cause dangerous bleeding. Dr. Chan concluded, We cant make a recommendation that you could take an aspirin a day to prevent both heart disease and colorectal cancer.
I have no doubt that high doses of aspirin are effective at both reducing colon cancer and causing you to bleed to death. Why might aspirin be effective at both? It interferes with prostaglandin metabolism. These chemicals are mediators of inflammation. Aspirin can reduce inflammation. However, aspirin chemically deranges the tiny cells your body depends on to clot. Called platelets, aspirins effect on them is permanent until they are recycled and replaced. But fish oils/omega-3s will do the same thing without the bleeding problem.
The second colon cancer preventive that is failed is sigmoidoscopy. Medical experts are pushing this easy-to-do test for regular screening. In this exam, only the lower two feet of your colon is visualized.
A disturbing study has found that looking only at the sigmoid colon misses almost two-thirds of all precancerous growths in women, twice as high as another study looking at men. In the study, 1,463 women ages 50-79 had colonoscopy to look for precancerous polyps. The researchers then found that 65% of the lesions were beyond the reach of shorter sigmoidoscopy equipment.
When I was in medical school, I learned sigmoidoscopy with a rigid tube is a most uncomfortable procedure. We were taught that a high rate of colon cancers would arise in the lower colon. It made sense, since that is the part of the intestine that has the longest contact with the most toxic material. The equipment has improved (flexible fiber optic), making the procedure less painful. But the problem has worsened. Clearly, with this research, the majority of colon cancers are arising higher in the colon — out of the reach of the sigmoidoscopy equipment. To me, this is clear evidence that were consuming an ever-increasing load of toxic food.
And the third preventive measure to fail is the latest technology for colon screening — the digital rectal test. The digital test is designed to detect fecal blood. Your doctor takes a small specimen of fecal material from your rectum and applies it to a card. A few drops of developer will turn the card blue if blood (and cancer) is present.
But a new study shows that this single test detected cancer in only 5% of patients who had cancer. The author of the study said, What we found is that this test is pretty worthless. Its a wake-up call that we should not be relying on the test.
There is not a preventive test that is very accurate for colon cancer screening. However, the colonoscopy does appear to have the best accuracy rates. This test is not perfect by any means. Plus, its more invasive than sigmoidoscopy and costs about three times as much (generally $450 compared to $150), but the difference appears to be worth it. If you are 50 years old or older, I do recommend getting a colonoscopy every five years.
However, the best prevention for colon cancer is not the examination. Removal of a precancerous growth by colonoscopy screening definitely fits my philosophy. But it does not solve the problem of increased risk. It only identifies it and gives you a temporary reprieve.
The best way to prevent colon cancer is to get plenty of exercise, have a bowel movement at least once a day, and move to a more vegetable and fruit-based diet, which has lots of vitamin A and folic acid. Eliminating red meat and all processed foods is also very important!
If you have polyps, I’ve seen them reversed with folic acid, (five mg daily), vitamin A (50,000-100,000 units daily — not beta carotene), cod liver oil (which contains plenty of omega-3 oils), and vitamin D (4,000 IU daily).
Ref: Journal of the American Medical Association, August 24, 2005; New England Journal of Medicine, May 19, 2005; Annals of Internal Medicine, January 18, 2005.