Diverticulosis
Dr. Crean Featured on News4JAX
Diverticulitis can affect anyone – even the Pope! After Pope Francis had to give his Sunday blessing from the hospital due to diverticulitis treatment, News4JAX invited Memorial’s own, Dr. Alex Crean, to come and discuss the condition.
Five Tips to Improving your Colon Health and Reducing the Risk of Colon Cancer
There are almost 150,000 cases of colon and rectal cancer each year, of which there are between 50,000 and 60,000 deaths. This makes colon cancer more deadly, in absolute terms, than breast cancer and prostate cancer. And yet, colon cancer is one of the most preventable and treatable diseases. Much of the increase in colon cancer occurrence is due to poor dietary and exercise habits that we, as a society, have adopted in the past several decades. Processed foods, amongst other poor dietary choices, have contributed to an obesity epidemic that has caused rates of colon cancer to increase dramatically through the mid-80s. Fortunately, better screening and education has mitigated some of this rise through the use of colonoscopy. As prevention is always better than even early treatment, here are our top five recommendations on reducing the risk of colon cancer.
Is Diverticulosis Hereditary?
When discussing colon health, it is important to understand more about diverticular disease and one of its most common sub-conditions, diverticulosis. Diverticulosis a very common problem that can alternately cause serious follow-on conditions, or no symptoms at all. The colon is a very sensitive organ that plays in important part in the digestive system. Proper colon health can not only make life easier, but it also avoids many serious medical issues and even surgery in some cases. However, with our collectively worsened diets in the United States, poor colon health has led to an increase in bowel related issues, colon and rectal cancer, diverticulosis and resultant diverticulitis.
