Colon polyps or colorectal polyps, is a disease generally common in people with the age of 50 or higher, or in smokers, overweight people, etc. Here is everything you need to know about colon polyps
Colon Polyps Meaning
These are small lumps of cell that are formed on the lining of the colon, which differs in sizes and over a period of time it develops. A colon polyp is mostly found in the large bowel and causes pain in the whole process of the digestive system flow. Colon polyp has some stages as it grows, and if not dealt in time, it can be fatal.
Colon Polyps causes and its types
Healthy cells grow in the colon and rectum area in a normal way, which then changes due to certain mutations in the genes. These mutations make the new cells grow continuously even if there is no need for these cells. Such cells with unregulated growth can cause polyps. It can form anywhere in the large intestine.
Types of colon polyps
Polyps are further divided into two categories, neoplastic and non-neoplastic.
- Non-neoplastic polyps most of the time do not become cancerous. They have further types such as hyperplastic polyps, hamartomatous polyps and inflammatory polyps.
- Inflammatory polyps can be spotted along with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. However, these polyps are not of significant threat. However, having Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis together can be a cause of concern as they are major assistance to colon polyps that leads to an increase in chances of you having cancer.
The Neoplastic polyps have two types, serrated and adenomas. In most people colon polyps are of adenomas type. While on the other hand, the serrated ones are more likely to be cancerous. Factors like the size and location of the polyps in the colon, also play an important role based on the situation. Larger the polyp higher are the chances of them being more cancerous, especially in the case of neoplastic polyps.
Symptoms of Colon polyps
Colon polyps symptoms are not actually felt or seen to someone who has it. It’s the doctor who does an examination test of your bowel and finds out the actual image.
However, people might experience some symptoms below with colon polyps.
- Abdominal pain- The size of the colon polyp can inflict great pain as it interferes in bowel movements, and it can lead to abdominal pain.
- Bowel times- Bowel habits can change due to a lot of reasons and other conditions. However, if a person is facing diarrhoea or constipation that lasts longer than a week, it may indicate the existence of a large colon polyp.
- Rectal bleeding- Rectal bleeding can be a symptom of colon polyps or even haemorrhoids. It needs a quick diagnosis to check whether the symptoms prevail.
- Anaemia– Polyps bleeding causes several issues, and it may lead to a deficiency of iron by taking it from our body to encounter these imbalances. It becomes difficult for the person to breathe and causes them fatigue.
Colon polyps prevention measures
“A stitch in time, saves nine.” It is always better to take some preventive measures in order to avoid the pain and suffering from any ailment.
You can follow these preventing measures to deal with colon polyps in a better way.
- Avoid smoking tobacco and lower your alcohol consumption, if any.
- Do regular exercise which suits your body and matches with the routine. A combination of aerobic and muscle-strengthening sessions would be great.
- Healthy eating, which consists of fruits and vegetables to fill you with the required nutrients.
- Avoid spicy and fatty and processed foods.
- A minimum of aspirin dose. Although you should discuss it with the doctor as it might have some side effects.
Treatment of colon polyps
Colon polyps treatment starts through the initial screening process and few methods proceed it. Screening helps in detecting the polyps, which can be cancerous and fatal. It’s better if it’s done as soon as possible and it increases the chances of recovery.
Colonoscopy – Colonoscopy is a test which examines changes or abnormalities in the colon and rectum. Colonoscope -a long flexible tube, is inserted from the rectum. It has a tiny camera, which enables the doctor to view the inside tissues of the colon.
If polyps are found, the doctor may take it out or just the sample of the tissue would be collected for further analysis. Colon polyps medication is given before and even after the colonoscopy procedure. The frequency of this diagnosis and treatment is related to how much polyps are developed or is developing in the colon area. The doctor will remove all the polyps during the examination, and the most common way is polypectomy. It is used for polyp bigger than 0.4 inches, with a liquid to separate and lift the polyp from the specific area.
An adenomatous polyp or a serrated polyp does have higher chances of getting cancerous, thus a frequent follow-up screening of polyps is necessary with the doctor.
If the symptoms prevail then the case is referred to someone who specializes in digestive diseases, usually a gastroenterologist. Colon polyps can cause cancer, so it is very important to get an appointment and have them checked.
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