I’m At Risk for Colon Cancer — What Should I Do?

Colorectal cancer — or colon cancer — is a common cancer that results from an abnormal growth of cells in your colon, the first section of your large intestine. Colon cancer often starts as a group of polyps that are only detectable through a colon cancer screening called a colonoscopy. 

There are a lot of factors that play into your risk of developing colon cancer. However, you can have risk factors and never have colon cancer and vice versa. But, it’s still helpful to know when you have a higher chance of developing it.

Ven Kottapalli, MD, CNSP, and our team at GI Physicians, Inc. in Lima, Ohio, offer colonoscopies as a way to catch colon cancer in its earliest stages. Those with an average risk of colon cancer should receive a colonoscopy every 10 years starting around age 45. However, if you’re at high risk, you may need to start earlier.

In this blog, we explore what puts you at a higher risk for colon cancer and what to do about it.

Risk factors for colon cancer

Many things can put you at risk for colon cancer. Some of them you can control and others you can’t. 

These are some colon cancer risk factors you can’t change:

• Family history of colon cancer
• Personal history of polyps in your colon
• Personal history of inflammatory bowel disease (IBS) or Crohn’s disease
• Being over the age of 50
• Being of Native American, Alaskan Native, or African American descent

These are the colon cancer risk factors you can change:

• Excessive alcohol consumption
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Smoking
• A diet high in saturated fats and low in fiber

It’s important to take note of the things you can and can’t change and make a plan from there.

Managing your colon cancer risk

If you identify with many of the uncontrollable colon cancer risk factors, we highly recommend you see us for regular colonoscopies by age 45, maybe even sooner. This allows us to check for any signs of cancer and also gives us a chance to remove any polyps that could potentially turn cancerous.

For more controllable risk factors, we recommend making some of the following lifestyle changes to reduce your chance of developing colon cancer:

• Eat a diet high in fruits, veggies, whole grains, healthy fats, and fiber
• Try to exercise for about 30 minutes each day
• Limit alcohol consumption as much as possible
• Reduce the amount you smoke, and quit completely if possible
• Maintain a healthy weight

If you’d like guidance on how to better mitigate your risk of colon cancer, contact our team to schedule an appointment. Give us a call or book online today.