Colon polyp treatment
Colon polyps are extra tissue that form along the large intestine, also called the colon. Colon polyps are most often benign, but should be removed to check for cancer. Colon polyps occur most often in people aged 50 and older. A healthy diet is likely to reduce the risk for colon polyps.
Colon polyps are fleshy growths that occur on the inside of the large intestine. Polyps in the colon are extremely common, and their incidence increases as people get older. It is estimated that more than half of the people over the age of 60 have at least one polyp. When certain types of polyps grow large enough, they can turn cancerous. Screening for colon polyps and removing them before they become cancerous should reduce the incidence of colon cancer.
Symptoms of colon polyp
Symptoms of colon polyps may include black or
bloody stools, anal bleeding, diarrhea or constipation that lasts for more than
a week. Most colon polyps may not show any symptoms.
Colon polyp predisposition
You're more likely to get polyps of the colon -- and should be tested for them
-- if you're 50 or older, if you've had some before, or if you have a family
history of colon polyps or colon cancer.
Colon polyp treatment
If polyps are found during exploratory procedures called colonoscopies or
sigmoidoscopies, the doctor should remove the excess tissue. If
adenomatous polyps are found during an exam with flexible sigmoidoscopy, a
colonoscopy will be done to look for and remove any polyps in the rest of the
colon. The bigger a colon polyp is, especially if it is larger than 1 cm, the
more likely it is that the polyp will be adenomatous or contain cancer cells and
need to be removed.