I'm 18 years old. can i have colon cancer?
Colon cancer is quite rare among those under the age of 60. This is why colon cancer screening with colonoscopy is recommended for the 50 and older set. This allows plenty of time to detect those pre-cancerous lesions. There are some unusual genetic disorders, however, that can lead to early colon cancer. These fortunately are very rare. A more likely diagnosis in a young person with regular rectal bleeding is one of the Inflammatory Bowel diseases. These are chronic diseases that are treated over a life-time. Regardless of the cause, rectal bleeding, whatever the cause- from hemorrhoids, to anal fissures, to polyps, is not normal and needs to be evaluated. The good news is that colonscopy is safe and will give you an answer quickly. Best of luck.
Can you survive with only 30 per cent heart function?
Yes- it is important to define terms here. The normal heart has an ejection fraction of about 60%. Heart function is usually defined as the ejection fraction. So a 30% ejection fraction is actually about half of normal, whereas if you are really talking about 30% of normal ( and we dont grnerally talk in those terms) you would be discussing an ejection fraction of 20%. Both these numbers are not in themselves lethal, however they are at increased risk for sudden death to the point that the standard of care is to implant an internal defibrillator. The patient with a 30% EF likely can live for a while, if variables duch as blood pressure and fluid balance, weight and lifestyle are well controlled. The patient with an EF of 20% does not have as good an outlook, but again it depends a lot on lifestyle and control of risk factors. Neither number has a defined max ( we don't say things like “ you only have six months”) and again, control of risk factors is paramount. I have cared for patients with EFs below ten percent, and these are patients who are very fragile. They should be followed by a center dealing with heart failure, and can be candidates for transplantation or left ventricular assist devices or other advanced interventions. The last thirty years of advances in getting patients to survive heart attacks has led to a new generation of heart failure patients. We did not used to have as much failure as a much lower percent of patients survived their heart attacks.Nothing on Quora should be mistaken for medical advice
What causes colon cancer?
Colon cancer causes and forms when the uncontrolled cell growth happens in the cells of the large intestine which results in colon cancer causes.All sort of cancers begins with some errors, abnormalities or mutation in our cells’ DNA. Alterations in the DNA of cells interrupt the normal process of division. It also starts developing when the DNA of healthy cells in the colon start developing abnormalities and continue to divide even when it’s not needed. These unwanted cells accumulate to form a cancer tumor. Most colorectal cancers are also found to develop from these adenomatous polyps within the inner lining of the colorectal passage. The polyps either stay harmless or become hyperplastic and cancerous. This cancer is the direct result of such a change.Top Colon Cancer Causes:Exposure to carcinogens like radioactive elementsExcessive red meat or processed meat dietBowel syndromesCrohn’s disease, or ulcerative colitisObesitySmokingHeavy alcoholism;Physical inactivity andType 2 diabetes are all conditions which can lead to the growth of cancer properties in these polyps.Check out Dr. Anshuman Kumar, Oncologist in Dharamshila Hospital, New Delhi talking about Colon Cancer. Good Luck.
Can someone help me understand stage 4 colon cancer better? It has spread to the liver. I saw the 5-year survival rate was 12%-14%. Does this mean with chemotherapy, he would still pass away within 5 years? He has lost 40 lbs in one year.
No, it doesn’t mean he would pass away within 5 years. ‘Would’ is a certainty, whereas diagnoses are based on uncertainties, and presented as probabilities.In this case, the probability is the survival rate of 12–14%. But this applies to the population as a whole. The uncertainties are based on variables like:AgeGenderPre-existing conditions, like Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative colitisWeightFitnessOverall healthAge is a massive factor in Colon Cancer, as this graph from the Cancer Research UK site shows:A lot of people are diagnosed with colon cancer in their 70s and 80s. This means that old age comes into play in terms of 5 years survival rates, which skews probability data. Survival rates for younger people will be more than the 12–14% average.With colon cancer, as with all cancers, surgery is the gold standard. If all the cancer in a patient can be surgically removed, the patient can be considered to be cured. The patients that are fit and healthy are more likely to considered for surgery, because their bodies are better able to cope with it.The fitter and healthier you are, the more likely your 5 year survival rate will be above the 12–14% average.Chemotherapy can also help, but maybe not directly. Sometimes, chemotherapy is used to debulk tumours to bring them into the operable range.The difficulty with the Stage 4 element is that the primary tumour has been spitting out metastases for an unknown length of time. This means that there can be an unknown number of tumours slowly growing around the body. Chemotherapy can be very helpful in getting rid of these little ones. So little, that they don’t show up on scans yet. With chemo, they never will.But Stage 4 Colon Cancer means waiting to see if anything else is going to pop up. In my case, 4 years after the initial diagnosis and about 2 years since my last new tumour, another liver met popped up, It’d been slowly growing for at least 4 years. It’s survived 2, 6-month sessions of chemotherapy. It didn’t survive the surgeon’s scalpel!But that’s Stage 4 Colon Cancer.Taking the surgeries, taking the Chemo and, if necessary, taking the radiotherapy and the immunotherapy as well. And waiting to see what the next scan has to show.It’s not worrying about 5 year survival rates of 12–14%, it’s about eating well and exercising hard to get yourself as fit and healthy as possible, thereby ensuring your chances are more than 12–14%.I hope this is helpful.