Healthy Living
The top 5 things you need to know to prevent colon cancer
March 07, 2019
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Joe Frankhouse, M.D., medical director of colorectal surgery at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center, has spent his career dedicated to the treatment and prevention of colorectal cancer. In honor of Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, he is sharing the five most important things you should know about colorectal cancer:
Finding and removing polyps is how colonoscopy can REDUCE your risk of ever getting colon cancer.
20% of the population above age 50 has polyps.
You can feel perfectly fine and yet have polyps. They rarely cause any symptoms until a cancer has formed.
Colon polyps are not cancer. But most polyps are PRE-cancerous. So if they are never identified (by colonoscopy), the risk of developing colon cancer is much higher.
Almost all polyps are small enough to be able to be removed without surgery.
Dr. Frankhouse is a colorectal surgeon at Legacy Medical Group – Gastrointestinal Surgery. If you have any questions about what testing is right for you or a loved one, and when you should start, please talk to your doctor or call his office at 503-413-5514.
