Vitamin D Reduces Risk for Colon Polyps

Both the level of vitamin D in the blood and intake of vitamin D-rich foods decrease the risk of colorectal polyps in a number of studies.

Analyzing published studies of blood levels of vitamin D, researchers found a 30 percent decrease in the risk of adenomas among people with the most circulating vitamin D compared to those with the least.  The highest vitamin D intake decreased adenomatous polyp risk by 11 percent. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on November 7th, 2008
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: adenomas, colorectal cancer prevention, vitamin D

No Connections Between Acrylamide and GI Cancers

Carbohydrate Sources of Acrylamide

Acrylamide is produced when carbohydrate-rich foods are cooked at high temperatures.  Foods like french fries, potato chips, cakes, and even coffee contain high levels of acrylamide.  It has been classified as a “probable” carcinogen based on animal studies where cancer resulted from very high doses.  However, human studies have not always produced clear answers.

Epidemiologists in The Netherlands had people fill out food questionnaires based on common Dutch foods that contained acrylamide.  Thirteen years later, they found no increase in the number of colorectal or other gastrointestinal cancer  in those people who ate foods with high amounts of acrylamide. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on October 31st, 2008
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Tags: colorectal cancer prevention, nutrition

Make a Video to Encourage Screening

Do you have a secret yen to be a moviemaker?  Star in your own video?  Help people learn that screening saves lives?

End Colon Cancer Now. Org at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center is looking for a short creative videos to spread the colorectal cancer screening message.  The top video in the Get Screened Contest will win $2,500. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on October 30th, 2008
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Tags: colorectal cancer prevention, CRC event

President’s Cancer Panel Recommends National Priority for Cancer

In a new report Maximizing Our Nation’s Investment in Cancer:Three Crucial Actions for America’s Health the President’s Cancer Panel makes three recommendations to the President that they feel are critical to the battle against cancer in the United States.

• Make reducing the cancer burden a national priority.
• Ensure that all Americans have timely access to needed health care and disease prevention measures.
• End the scourge of tobacco in the United States. Continue reading…

  Posted by Kate Murphy on October 28th, 2008
  Posted in: Policy & Advocacy News, Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
  Tags: cancer research, colorectal cancer prevention, Kate's Thoughts

C3 Advocate Brings Laughter to CRC Prevention

Standup comic Brenda Elsagher was once voted the funniest woman in the Twin Cities.  Calling her doctor the “rear admiral”, she’s featured in a TV report on colorectal cancer on WCCO, Minneapolis talking about the importance of colonoscopies and colorectal cancer prevention.

Brenda is a research advocate for C3 and weaves colorectal cancer prevention and survivorship messages into her comedy routines, her motivational speaking, and a regular blog.

Diagnosed in her thirties, Brenda has a colostomy that she talks about freely and with humor.  In If the Battle is Over Why am I Still in Uniform: Humor as a Survival Tactic to Combat Cancer she discusses her journey with colon cancer, her ostomy, and how laughter helped her come to terms and cope.

She collected the stories of over eighty people affected by ostomies — ostomates, caregivers, medical professionals — in I’d Like to Buy a Bowel Please.

In addition to her work with C3, she is active with the United Ostomy Association of Minneapolis and is part of the NCI Consumer Advocates in Research and Related Activities (CARRA) program.

Posted by Kate Murphy on October 17th, 2008
Posted in: Policy & Advocacy News, Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: C3 Advocates, colorectal cancer prevention, ostomies