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The human digestive system is an amazing piece of work. Not only does it help to give our bodies the nutrients that that needs from the food that we eat, it expels harmful waste, keeping it from doing damage to us. It is also thought that almost all disease starts in the colon, so it is important for us to keep this part of our body as clean and smooth running as possible. There are times, however, whenever problems can occur. Sometimes we may not even be aware of these problems. The formation and maintaining of colon polyps in the large intestines is one of these conditions.
You may have heard of colon polyps before but most people don't realize that almost 1 out of every three middle-aged adults are thought to have colon polyps to one degree or another. Fortunately, most of these colon polyps are harmless and really don't do anything that would hurt us at all. They are simply cells that form in a lump on the lining of the colon. It is possible, however, that colon polyps could turn cancerous so it is certainly worthy of our attention. It's interesting to note that these colon polyps do not necessarily attack anyone more than another. Men and women of all ages can develop this problem although it certainly is more pronounced after the age of 50. You may also be at an increased risk if you have had a family history of polyps or cancer in the colon.
The Symptoms and Causes of Colon Polyps
As with most diseases, there is not one particular set of symptoms that can be nailed down for everyone that has this problem. One of the reasons that it is so difficult to do is because the polyps range in size from very small to an inch or two in diameter. Most people don't even realize that they have these polyps unless they are found by a rectal examination by their physician. There could be some things, however, that would let you know that you have this type of condition. These would include bleeding from the rectum, constipation, diarrhea or bloody stool. It's worth noting, however, that these symptoms could be caused from a wide variety of conditions so it would be worth being checked to see what is causing them.
The good news about polyps is that most of them are not cancerous in nature. It's perfectly normal for these healthy cells to grow in a lump inside the colon although it can cause a lot of problems even if cancer is not present. These polyps can also develop anywhere within the colon and can range in size from very small to fairly large. Depending on the size of the polyp, cancer may be present as larger polyps carry an increased risk.
Treatment and Prevention For Colon Polyps
Your doctor will be double to give you treatment options as well as advice for preventing additional polyps in the future. There may be times whenever the polyps will be left alone but there are also times when your doctor will want to remove them. Most polyps are removed during a colonoscopy by looping them and snipping them with wire. It might also be that smaller polyps are burnt by a low-level electrical current. If the polyps are too large to be removed by one of these methods, surgery may be required. Typically this is done by small incisions that are made in the abdomen through a process known as laparoscopic surgery. Once the polyp is removed, new ones are not able to form in the same area.
One of the best things that you can do to prevent polyps from forming in the first place is to pay attention to your diet. You should supplement your diet with calcium. Although milk is thought to be generally unhealthy to drink, you can get calcium through standard supplements that are available through your health food store. Including a lot of fiber in your diet is also important and this can be done through eating fruits and vegetables, preferably raw. You should also make sure that you limit the amount of fats and alcohol that you're taking it on a daily basis.
Although it may take some effort on your part, keeping free from polyps and following a health regime which will assist you in doing this can not only take care of this problem, it can enhance other parts of your life as well. It's just one more thing that you will not have to worry about if you make sure that you take care of it before they occur in the first place.
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