RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
The Randolph Medical Clinic is making sure base members are getting the message when it comes to stopping a cancer that takes thousands of lives each year.
The base clinic has sent over one thousand letters to patients age 50 years and older informing them they should be checked and screened for colon cancer, which kills an average of 60,000 Americans each year and is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S.
With March being Colon Cancer Prevention Month, the medical clinic wants to raise awareness among Team Randolph members about the importance of preventive screening.
Maj. Joyce Warrington, 12th Medical Group health care integrator, said the clinic has 4,694 patients who are eligible for a screening referral.
"We have 3,144 patients who have been screened, which is 67 percent of the patients who are eligible for a referral," Major Warrington said. "We are working on contacting the remaining patients so they can get screened."
There are five types of screening tests used to detect colon cancer with colonoscopy being the most common and effective. According to FamilyDoctor.org, a colonoscopy allows doctors or health specialists to get a better view of the colon with the use of a video camera.
A tube used in the colonoscopy removes any polyps or cancers detected during the exam. Polyps are benign growths that could result in cancer if they are allowed to stay in the large intestine and grow. If removed early enough, polyps do not have the chance to grow into cancerous lesions.
Lt. Col. Dr. David Laughlin, 12th Medical Group Chief of Medical Staff, said it is important for people, especially those 50 years and older and those who have a family history of the illness, to get a colonoscopy.
"We recommend a colonoscopy every 10 years," Colonel Laughlin said. "It will be up to the person who performs the colonoscopy as to when it will happen again. You cannot prevent colon cancer due to genetic and environmental components, but that's why screening is so important."
There are some risk factors that could increase the chance that people at any age can get colon cancer: having had colon cancer or large polyps in the past, or a blood relative who had colon cancer before age 60, having ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, or hereditary colon cancer syndrome.
Symptoms of colon cancer can include bleeding from the rectum, blood in the stool or in the toilet after a bowel movement, a change in the shape of the stool or a cramping pain in the lower abdomen. If you have any of these warning signs, officials urge patients to see a doctor as soon as possible.
While medical specialists do not know what causes colon cancer, Colonel Laughlin said people's risk of getting disease can be decreased by eating healthy and staying active.
"Include fiber in your diet and exercise regularly," he said. "Eat numerous fruits, vegetables and nuts. Talk to a nutritionist about your diet."
Major Warrington said she has received testimonies from patients on how early detection and screening possibly saved their lives because polyps were detected.
"I had two people who sent me letters that said that the specialists had found something," she said. "Those people thanked us because they would not have gone if we had not contacted them. Because they were screened, they can be monitored and something can be done to prevent it from possibly progressing into cancer."
Base members can get a referral for a preventive screening by calling the clinic's Population Health Office at 652-4028 or the Family Care unit at 945-0411.