Proctology Institute

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A Cautionary Tale About Colon Cancer

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Proctologists such as myself do it all, from treating minor hemorrhoids to conducting life-saving surgeries to prevent serious proctologic disease.

Colon cancer is one such issue – a rare but precious diagnosis that can quickly graduate to a life-threatening illness without good detection and prevention.

Stories such as this one stand as testament to the value of early interventions: a 38-year-old woman who lost her life too young to a disease that is poorly understood, and often misdiagnosed:

“The last thing that the patient and doctor is thinking is that they have rectal cancer,” said Schnoll-Sussman. They’ll likely attribute the rectal bleeding to hemorrhoids or menstrual periods, Dr. Schnoll-Sussman explained, who was part of McRedmond care team in New York.

Yet the disease does present more often than many people realize, and the numbers have been climbing for some time:

According to the research, rectal cancer rates have been increasing longer and faster than colon cancer. Rectal cancer rates rose about 3 percent a year for those in their 20s and 30s, and by 1 by 2 percent a year for adults ages 40 to 54.

The only way to confidently avoid this scourge is to understand its signs, and to aggressively seek out a proctologist or similar specialist to help you navigate the maze of diagnosis, treatment, and aftercare that leaves too many people feeling overwhelmed.

For better care of anal cancer, anal dysplasia, and related diseases, please don’t wait. Call Dr. Maz ghodsian for the best proctologic treatment in Los Angeles, Huntington Beach, and Newport Beach.

A Rising Tide of Colorectal Cancer in Young Adults

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This news has been brewing for some time, but it took until recently for the full breadth of the epidemic to come to light. Colorectal cancer, a dangerous and often fatal disease, has been striking more young people than it used – and experts are scratching their heads:

Cases of colon and rectal cancer are on the rise in people under the age of 50, a group that’s rarely screened for them. According to a recent study, rates among younger people increased by more than 11% between 2004 and 2014.

The disease seems especially likely to strike nonwhite patients, including Black Americans and First Nations cultures in Alaska, among others.

Generally patients complain of bleeding first, possibly accompanied by pain or discomfort during bowel movements. Although these symptoms can easily be dismissed as hemorrhoids or anal fissure, it’s important to rule out a diagnosis of cancer, a step many doctors fail to take.

The good news is that early detection can make a big difference, as can the demonstrable superior health of younger patients:

“But because they are younger, they do better,” Brooks says. “Someone diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer in their 30s can tolerate more aggressive treatment and will therefore be more likely to do better than someone in their 80s who has stage 3 colorectal cancer along with other health problems.”

You can’t be too careful when it comes to anal cancer, colorectal cancer, and other deadly diseases of proctology. To get your screening today and discuss the best options of anal pain treatment, contact the Proctology Institute.

It’s Friday. Let’s Talk About Anal Disease.

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What better day than the end of the week for a rousing discussion of everything that can go wrong in your butt? Today I’d like to take a quick look at some of the diseases you may face down there in your lifetime, and how to spot the telltale signs before any lasting damage is done.

Anal Cancer and Colorectal Cancer

Bleeding in the anus can be a sign of something as mild as hemorrhoids, or as serious as cancer. Especially when accompanied by a lump or pus, that bleeding may be an indication that something more dangerous is afoot. And if you never quite feel as though the bowel is empty, that is one further indication of a concerning issue. Anal cancer and colorectal cancer can be treated surgically, but as with all cancers, the sooner the better.

Crohn’s Disease

Moving up in gravity from cancer, we find Crohn’s Disease, a chronic condition that can affect the entire GI tract, and is incurable but treatable. Symptoms of Crohn’s Disease may include abdominal and anal pain, anal fissure, weight loss, and skin lesions and tags. Although it cannot be cured yet, Crohn’s Disease can be safely managed with medications, dietary changes, and surgery where fistulization has become too severe to resolve any other way.

Diverticular Disease

When small bulges appear in the large intestine, the diagnosis is Diverticular Disease, named for those bulges. As with Crohn’s Disease, there is no simple cure, but the disease can be managed with improved diet and medication, as well as surgery when complications become serious.

Anal Dysplasia

And back up to the top now, we find anal dysplasia, which is a precursor to cancer and thus taken very seriously when it appears. Symptoms of this abnormal cell growth may include pressure, mucus discharge, and swollen glands. Your proctologist will usually recommend removal of the abnormal cells via a high resolution anoscopy.

To learn more about diseases of proctology, call the professionals at the Proctology Institute today.

Preventing Colorectal Cancer With Colonoscopy

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Colorectal cancer is on the rise at a rate which alarms some epidemiologists. Once considered a disease of the elderly, colorectal cancer is now creeping younger with each decade, a fact underlined by some alarming recent reports.

How can you prevent this disease before it strikes? As one article recently described, the key is getting screened by a proctologist who understands this region of the body intimately:

Unlike other cancers, colorectal cancer screening not only detects the disease, it also can prevent it from occurring. The preferred method of colorectal cancer screening, according to Dr. Alfred Neugut, Columbia University Medical Center, is a colonoscopy. . . Because polyps are often precancerous, removal of one of these growths actually can prevent cancer from developing, says Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

The LA and Orange County Proctology Institute is leading the charge to prevent colorectal cancer with some of the best regarded screening protocols in California. If you have any reason to believe you could be at risk for colorectal cancer, it’s important to visit an expert proctologist who can help you navigate the screening process with care and communication.

Colorectal Cancer on the Rise in Developing World

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It has long been known that rising prosperity within any nation seems to spark a concomitant rise in the so-called diseases of civilization: heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and cancer.

Researchers recently identified one particular form of cancer as the canary in the coalmine: colorectal cancer. Data shows that as wealth increases, lifestyle changes such as increased drinking, inactivity and poor diet tends to send the rate of colon or bowel cancer through the roof:

“Colorectal cancer is the clearest marker of societal and economic transition,” says Cancer epidemiologist Melina Arnold, from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, who led the study.

Also known as bowel cancer, it’s the third most common type of cancer in the world. It affected 1.4 million people in 2012 and is predicted to increase by 60%, to more than 2.2 million cases — and 1.1 million deaths — by 2030.

Stories such as these are a cautionary tale for those of us in the West for whom a sedentary lifestyle is already the norm. Thankfully the converse is true: When people engage in more active lifestyles and watch what they eat, they tend to exhibit lower rates of bowel or colorectal cancer and related diseases.

The silver lining is that a Colonoscopy may just save your life.  A Colonoscopy is a safe and effective tool in diagnosing and treating colon and rectal polyps that may lead to colon and rectal cancer. During a Colonoscopy, a long fiber optic tube with a camera at the end will be maneuvered up through the rectum and colon, typically to the cecum or the terminal ileum of the small intestine. The colonoscope has ports, allowing various instruments to be fed through it to remove or resect colon and rectal polyps. Because a Colonoscopy will allow the detection of polyps as well as the resection of the polyps in real time, it is the Gold Standard versus the Virtual Colonoscopy (CT Colonography) which detects colon polyps on a CT Scan but does not allow for the surgeon to remove them in real time.

If you are concerned about bowel cancer or colorectal cancer, especially if you have a family history of Colon and Rectal Cancer, early screening with a Colonoscopy is a must:

The key therefore is early detection and increasing opportunities for screening in all affected countries and not just the affluent ones as, according to Cross, 90% of people will survive five years if diagnosed early.

To learn more, please call us at the LA and Orange County Proctology Institute today.