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Colon Health 101
Dr. Christian S. Bailey, discusses colon health 101. He shares his best advice for keeping a healthy colon, the latest screening guidelines as set forth by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), and how easy it is to have a colonoscopy, the single best prevention screening tool to prevent colon cancer. Learn more about BayCare's gastroenterology services.
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Learn more about Christian Bailey, MD
Christian S. Bailey, MD
Dr. Christian Bailey is board certified in gastroenterology and has been in practice with BayCare Medical Group since 2007. He earned his medical degree from the University of South Florida (USF) and completed both his residency and fellowship at USF.Learn more about Christian Bailey, MD
Transcription:
Colon Health 101
Melanie Cole (Host): While colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in both men and women; incidence and mortality rates have been decreasing for the past two decades. This is in large part due to improvements in early detection and treatment. My guest today is Dr. Christian Bailey. He’s a gastroenterologist with BayCare Medical Group. Dr. Bailey tell us about the risk factors for colon cancer and is there a large genetic component to this?
Christian S. Bailey, MD (Guest): So, there are several factors that place somebody at increased risk for colon cancer. Some of the things to look out for would be in the person, any family history of colon cancer; that has a major influence. Any people in the family who have maybe genetically had a history of having multiple colon polyps or they believe that that’s part of some sort of genetic syndrome. Any person who has had colon cancer in the past is at increased risk for future problems. And in some people with chronic medical conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease; they are at increased risk as well. So, there are in some cases, genetic factors that lead to colon cancer. Most colon cancers are sporadic meaning they pop up more or less at random in the population.
Melanie: Dr. Bailey are there some signs and symptoms? If someone is not well aware of their risk factors; are there some signs and symptoms that would send them to a gastroenterologist in the first place? Because people bleed, they have hemorrhoids, there are things that could be scary.
Dr. Bailey: So, rectal bleeding usually is the thing that gets somebody’s attention immediately. A lot of times, rectal bleeding is in fact, due to something innocent like a hemorrhoid, however, rectal bleeding can in some cases, be a sign of a tumor or a cancer growing in the colon. Some other symptoms to look out for would be unexplained weight loss, abdominal pain, or a sudden change in your bowel habits.
Melanie: Then let’s talk about colonoscopy as this is the gold standard for prevention of colon cancer. Tell us a little bit about the current screening guidelines. Who should be screened, and this is set forth by the US Preventive Services Task Force?
Dr. Bailey: Right, so you are right. There are guidelines that have been set up in order to uniformly screen people. In general, we try to grab everybody, men and women at age 50 and bring them in to discuss colon cancer screening. There are some exceptions to that. African Americans is recommended would be screened at age 45. That population group is at higher risk for colon cancer compared to the general population. So, typically, age 50 is where we are starting, however, that can be affected by symptoms. So, the symptoms that we discussed previously such as rectal bleeding or a change in bowel habits might bring you in sooner, or family history. If there is a relative in your family that had colon cancer; we would bring you in sometimes at age 40 or ten years younger than that person was when they had their issue.
Melanie: People worry about colonoscopy. They don’t want to get them because they think that it’s going to be difficult or hurt or that they have heard that the prep is very difficult. Speak about how easy colonoscopy is and what somebody can expect.
Dr. Bailey: So, the feedback that you will get from patients is that certainly their anticipation of the procedure was far worse than anything that they experienced with the procedure. The colonoscopy itself, people are typically sedated for so there is no participation from the patient, they are not aware of what we are doing. They essentially are taking a nap with the sedation during the procedure. The dread always and rightfully so, the worst part of the whole procedure is the clean out which is the preparation. The preparation has changed many times though over the last ten years and patients will tell you that have been through preparations a couple of different ways, that the current prep that we are using is much better tolerated, much easier to get through and it ends up being not as big of a deal as they thought it was going to be.
Melanie: And when people hear about the new types of prep and that they get a pretty good nap in; then they worry also about the results. Tell us what do polyps mean and when you take them out; are we now not at risk for colon cancer anymore?
Dr. Bailey: So, people do sometimes – are apprehensive or fearful of what will be found during the procedure. The good news is I can usually give the person some immediate feedback right after the procedure to let them know how things went. As far as finding things; so about 30-35% of men and women having their first colonoscopy will have colon polyps. So, colon polyps are an important finding. Colon cancer at some point, we believe, in a person must have started out as a colon polyp. So, when you find a colon polyp in somebody during colonoscopy; the goal is in most cases to remove that polyp at the time of the procedure. That polyp if left behind, does have the potential to become a colon cancer and if you remove the polyp, you have essentially erased the possibility of something developing in that location.
Melanie: Are there different types of polyps and do you explain to your patients what kinds that they mean and now does this put them at risk for more polyps in the future? Does it change Dr. Bailey the amount of colonoscopies and when those are spaced out?
Dr. Bailey: So, once the colonoscopy has been completed and we discuss the results; we have to talk about when the person has to come back again. So, there are a variety of polyps we see during colonoscopy, and they vary mainly in their size, their shape. Most small polyps are not very high risk for colon cancer in the near future. Some polyps which are very large in size or have an abnormal appearance are much closer to the process of becoming a cancer and sometimes even have cancer within them. So, after the procedure we talk about the size of the polyps, their general appearance, the number of polyps and then ultimately the polyps themselves are sent to the pathologist to review for anything that may be concerning and based on all of those factors, we make a recommendation for how often the person should come back.
Melanie: Is it possible to prevent colon cancer? Aside from colonoscopy, is there anything else we can do? What affect does our diet have on our colon?
Dr. Bailey: So, there is an interesting statistic out which has to do with deaths from colon cancer and while we have been doing well with reducing colon cancer deaths in people over 50; we have noticed that there is some increase in colon cancer and colon cancer deaths in people younger than age 50. And we believe that that has a lot to do with lifestyle or unhealthy lifestyles. So, in addition to the things we talked about earlier such as family history; there are some other factors and those include a sedentary lifestyle, not getting a lot of activity, obesity, smoking, a diet that is low in fruits and vegetables or high in red meat and fried foods. Those are all additional contributing factors for colon cancer.
Melanie: Really important information. Dr. Bailey wrap it up for us. Give us your best advice about colonoscopy and colon cancer and let the listeners know just how easy getting this really important screening can be.
Dr. Bailey: So, people do get colon cancer. It is a common cancer. Fortunately, we have tests available to detect the cancer. The advantage of finding the cancer, if we catch it early, is that it can be treated and for the vast majority of those people, if we catch the problem early and intervene; they will survive the diagnosis and the colonoscopy process has been streamlined quite a bit to the point that it is not meant to be any sort of an unpleasant experience.
Melanie: Thank you so much for joining us today. Really important information. You’re listening to BayCare HealthChat. For more information please visit www.baycare.org, that’s www.baycare.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
Colon Health 101
Melanie Cole (Host): While colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in both men and women; incidence and mortality rates have been decreasing for the past two decades. This is in large part due to improvements in early detection and treatment. My guest today is Dr. Christian Bailey. He’s a gastroenterologist with BayCare Medical Group. Dr. Bailey tell us about the risk factors for colon cancer and is there a large genetic component to this?
Christian S. Bailey, MD (Guest): So, there are several factors that place somebody at increased risk for colon cancer. Some of the things to look out for would be in the person, any family history of colon cancer; that has a major influence. Any people in the family who have maybe genetically had a history of having multiple colon polyps or they believe that that’s part of some sort of genetic syndrome. Any person who has had colon cancer in the past is at increased risk for future problems. And in some people with chronic medical conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease; they are at increased risk as well. So, there are in some cases, genetic factors that lead to colon cancer. Most colon cancers are sporadic meaning they pop up more or less at random in the population.
Melanie: Dr. Bailey are there some signs and symptoms? If someone is not well aware of their risk factors; are there some signs and symptoms that would send them to a gastroenterologist in the first place? Because people bleed, they have hemorrhoids, there are things that could be scary.
Dr. Bailey: So, rectal bleeding usually is the thing that gets somebody’s attention immediately. A lot of times, rectal bleeding is in fact, due to something innocent like a hemorrhoid, however, rectal bleeding can in some cases, be a sign of a tumor or a cancer growing in the colon. Some other symptoms to look out for would be unexplained weight loss, abdominal pain, or a sudden change in your bowel habits.
Melanie: Then let’s talk about colonoscopy as this is the gold standard for prevention of colon cancer. Tell us a little bit about the current screening guidelines. Who should be screened, and this is set forth by the US Preventive Services Task Force?
Dr. Bailey: Right, so you are right. There are guidelines that have been set up in order to uniformly screen people. In general, we try to grab everybody, men and women at age 50 and bring them in to discuss colon cancer screening. There are some exceptions to that. African Americans is recommended would be screened at age 45. That population group is at higher risk for colon cancer compared to the general population. So, typically, age 50 is where we are starting, however, that can be affected by symptoms. So, the symptoms that we discussed previously such as rectal bleeding or a change in bowel habits might bring you in sooner, or family history. If there is a relative in your family that had colon cancer; we would bring you in sometimes at age 40 or ten years younger than that person was when they had their issue.
Melanie: People worry about colonoscopy. They don’t want to get them because they think that it’s going to be difficult or hurt or that they have heard that the prep is very difficult. Speak about how easy colonoscopy is and what somebody can expect.
Dr. Bailey: So, the feedback that you will get from patients is that certainly their anticipation of the procedure was far worse than anything that they experienced with the procedure. The colonoscopy itself, people are typically sedated for so there is no participation from the patient, they are not aware of what we are doing. They essentially are taking a nap with the sedation during the procedure. The dread always and rightfully so, the worst part of the whole procedure is the clean out which is the preparation. The preparation has changed many times though over the last ten years and patients will tell you that have been through preparations a couple of different ways, that the current prep that we are using is much better tolerated, much easier to get through and it ends up being not as big of a deal as they thought it was going to be.
Melanie: And when people hear about the new types of prep and that they get a pretty good nap in; then they worry also about the results. Tell us what do polyps mean and when you take them out; are we now not at risk for colon cancer anymore?
Dr. Bailey: So, people do sometimes – are apprehensive or fearful of what will be found during the procedure. The good news is I can usually give the person some immediate feedback right after the procedure to let them know how things went. As far as finding things; so about 30-35% of men and women having their first colonoscopy will have colon polyps. So, colon polyps are an important finding. Colon cancer at some point, we believe, in a person must have started out as a colon polyp. So, when you find a colon polyp in somebody during colonoscopy; the goal is in most cases to remove that polyp at the time of the procedure. That polyp if left behind, does have the potential to become a colon cancer and if you remove the polyp, you have essentially erased the possibility of something developing in that location.
Melanie: Are there different types of polyps and do you explain to your patients what kinds that they mean and now does this put them at risk for more polyps in the future? Does it change Dr. Bailey the amount of colonoscopies and when those are spaced out?
Dr. Bailey: So, once the colonoscopy has been completed and we discuss the results; we have to talk about when the person has to come back again. So, there are a variety of polyps we see during colonoscopy, and they vary mainly in their size, their shape. Most small polyps are not very high risk for colon cancer in the near future. Some polyps which are very large in size or have an abnormal appearance are much closer to the process of becoming a cancer and sometimes even have cancer within them. So, after the procedure we talk about the size of the polyps, their general appearance, the number of polyps and then ultimately the polyps themselves are sent to the pathologist to review for anything that may be concerning and based on all of those factors, we make a recommendation for how often the person should come back.
Melanie: Is it possible to prevent colon cancer? Aside from colonoscopy, is there anything else we can do? What affect does our diet have on our colon?
Dr. Bailey: So, there is an interesting statistic out which has to do with deaths from colon cancer and while we have been doing well with reducing colon cancer deaths in people over 50; we have noticed that there is some increase in colon cancer and colon cancer deaths in people younger than age 50. And we believe that that has a lot to do with lifestyle or unhealthy lifestyles. So, in addition to the things we talked about earlier such as family history; there are some other factors and those include a sedentary lifestyle, not getting a lot of activity, obesity, smoking, a diet that is low in fruits and vegetables or high in red meat and fried foods. Those are all additional contributing factors for colon cancer.
Melanie: Really important information. Dr. Bailey wrap it up for us. Give us your best advice about colonoscopy and colon cancer and let the listeners know just how easy getting this really important screening can be.
Dr. Bailey: So, people do get colon cancer. It is a common cancer. Fortunately, we have tests available to detect the cancer. The advantage of finding the cancer, if we catch it early, is that it can be treated and for the vast majority of those people, if we catch the problem early and intervene; they will survive the diagnosis and the colonoscopy process has been streamlined quite a bit to the point that it is not meant to be any sort of an unpleasant experience.
Melanie: Thank you so much for joining us today. Really important information. You’re listening to BayCare HealthChat. For more information please visit www.baycare.org, that’s www.baycare.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.