CANCER is curable, need to change lifestyle to avoid disease

Amritsar, March 26, 2013: Taking initiative to inform more and more citizens about Colon Cancer, Dr Navdeep Singh; Cancer Super-specialist – Fortis Escorts Hospital; Amritsar said that people and medical fraternity from across the globe celebrate March as a month of ‘Colon Cancer Month’. This is to create awareness about the causes and encouraging people to change their lifestyle to stay away from this life threatening hazard of Colon cancer.

March is celebrated as the ‘World Colon Cancer Month’all over the world to create awareness among people about cancer and its treatment. This year’s March 2013 theme is “Preventible, Treatable, Beatable”.  Using this theme, Dr Navdeep Singh, Cancer Super-specialist, Fortis Escorts Hospital, Amritsar took the initiative to create awareness that; “Colon cancer is very common in Punjab and ranks amongst the first five cancers. It’s still a prevalent misconception in the society that cancer is incurable and the patients don’t live a normal lifestyle after treatment. Medical science has made tremendous breakthroughs in last few years and treatments are now available for diseases which were earlier thought to be untreatable. The only issue remaining now is to make people aware of the importance of early detection of the disease so it can be treated effectively.”

Colon is a part of the body where stools (faeces) are formed. Dr Navdeep said, "Prevention is better than cure, don’t allow enemy to enter your body. There are various risk factors like Hereditary is a causative agent as this cancer runs in family. Take Cancer Safe diet like Green leafy vegetables, fibrous food, salads, fresh fruits, tomatoes, turmeric and green tea etc. Say no to cancer prone diet like Low fibre diet, Alcohol and Beer. Chances of Colon (intestine) cancer are increased with regular consumption of Non-Veg and red meat. Lack of exercise is another major reason for this cancer.”

Dr. Navdeepalso emphasized strongly that there is a misconception that cancer is untreatable and is curable if detected in early stages. “Even in late stages, we can prolong life by newer anti-cancer drugs. Medicine has made many breakthroughs and these newer anti-cancer molecules ‘HIT’ the cancer cells directly and melt the colon cancerous cells. There is a simple screening test called FOBT to detect it early.  It helps to find out blood in stools. It should be done every year after the age of 50. It will help us find out the blood in stool even if the stool color is normal.

Finally, on World Colon Cancer Month, Dr. Navdeep Singh concluded by saying “I advise people to make changes in their lifestyle for reducing the chances of getting cancer. One should develop an exercise routine in daily schedule. One can take on exercises like swimming or jogging and walking. Also keep a strict control on the body weight as obesity is a very big lifestyle cause for cancer, increase the percentage of leafy and green vegetables in daily food intake. Also, daily consumption of garlic, tomatoes and turmeric is very healthy as these have anti-cancer properties and it reduces the chances of getting cancer.”