Despite the many frequent connotations we endure on our 40th and 45th birthday, it is that 50th birthday that draws your attention to the coming of age. This was an age that even I neglected to take certain precautions that I should have. As with most of us, time has a way of slipping up on us, and we neglect to do the things that are necessary for good maintenance. I neglected to sleep, rest and take a few more vacations because I loved my work too much. It is at 50 years of age that I advise all my patients to be sure they have gone to the medical doctor for a yearly exam and checkup.

Last year approaching his 60th birthday, a good friend and patient allowed me to work with him to choose a better diet, exercise, lose weight and moderate his alcohol consumption. He was a man’s man, a big adventurer. He loved to wine and dine often, and you could tell by looking at his waistline. Reluctantly, he started to listen to my council and he lost 60 pounds. He exercised, his diet improved and he began to moderate his lifestyle activities. Following my advice that year he had a cardiac profile and a full medical exam and workup to be sure all was fine. However, he refused to have the colonoscopy exam. He said he never had any problems with his food tube, and laughed.

He was on a monthly maintenance for his diet and supplements to reduce the toxins he had accumulated living here on Mobile Bay. When he didn’t show up for his appointment it made me wonder if he was out of town. The next day I received a call from his wife. She tried to explain to me that he had to be rushed to the hospital for severe abdominal pain. They thought it was pancreatitis or maybe gall stones but the hospital was running tests to determine the cause of the inflammation that brought on the incident. She said she would call back and let me know the results. To make a long and sad story short, he passed away two months after the diagnosis of colon cancer was made. What upsets me the most is that this possibly could have been avoided if he had allowed the screening procedures.

It is at 50 and above that we begin to recommend we all get these often unpleasant but necessary exams and tests to enable early detection of cancer of the colon. Colon cancer is different from cancer of the stomach and the small intestine, both relatively uncommon. Colon cancer is the second-deadliest cancer and will cause an estimated 60,000 deaths this year.

The chance of the average person developing colorectal cancer is 1 in 19, though people who eat a high-fiber, low fat diet appear to have a reduced risk. Since it is a cancer that responds poorly to chemotherapy or radiation, early detection and removal are the primary hopes for a positive response.

Several factors increase the risk for colon cancer. Advancing age is one. It is relatively rare before age 40 but is increasingly likely beyond age 50. Having two or more blood relatives with colorectal cancer, or one relative who had it before age 60 increases your risk 2-3 fold. Having three or more relatives suggest a hereditary family predisposition. A chronic bowel disease such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s colitis for several years is another risk factor. Having one cancerous growth in the colon increases the chance of having another.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, slightly more than half of the U.S. adults, age 50 or older have been screened for colorectal cancer. Early detection of the cancer is crucial: When found early, five-year survival rates exceed 90 percent. But, prevention is even more important, and panels of experts from the American Cancer Society and several other health organizations have taken a major step toward prevention by adding a new test to the list of options for colorectal screening. Like the stool DNA test, a patient places a collection container under the toilet seat, collects his or her own stool sample at home and mails it to a laboratory where it is analyzed for abnormal genetic material shed by polyps and tumors. This method can find the majority of cancers but is less effective at polyp detection. Hopefully this is less invasive procedure will encourage more people to begin this screening process.

There is a great deal about colon cancer I do not know and would recommend the colon be examined yearly or at least every two years by one of these tests or the colonoscopy when recommended, particularly if there is a predisposition.

The specific recommendations for testing for cancer of the colon will keep changing as the disease evolves and as new equipment, detection methods or newer surveys become available. What is unlikely to change is that we need to test healthy individuals that have no symptoms of this deadly disease.

The people following a high-fiber, vegetarian diet have the lowest colon cancer statistics. Individuals who like a meat-centered diet and oppose vegetables and high quality grains surely need to have a screening test as soon after their 50th birthday party as blowing out the candles allow.

Please address any questions, comments or suggestions to the author at one of the following addresses. bamashogun@aol.com or www.alternative-concepts.com.