Duluth, March 14, 2018 — Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men and women in the United States, according to American Cancer Society. The month of March is the National Colorectal Awareness Month.
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed excluding skin cancers in both men and women in the United States. It has been estimated that 97,200 new cases of colon cancer and 43,030 new cases of rectal cancer will be discovered within United States in 2018.
Governor Nathan Deal officially declared the Colorectal Cancer Awareness Proclamation at the Georgia State Capitol to bring attention to the importance of early screening and prevention checkups for Georgia residents. Governor Deal presented a state proclamation on colorectal awareness month to Dr. Indran Indrakrishnan and several colorectal cancer survivors at the state capitol. Dr Indrakrishnan requested President Trump to declare March Month as National colorectal cancer. President Trump declared this on March 1st and he sent the signed Proclamation to Dr Indrakrishnan.
In an exclusive interview with Georgia Asian Times, Dr. Indran Indrakrishnan, a board-certified gastroenterologist with GDC Endoscopy Center and Gwinnett Digestic Clinic and clinical professor of medicine at Emory University Medical School in Atlanta, shared his insights on the importance of early prevention screening for colorectal cancer.
“It has been advised that individuals especially people aged 50 years and above are advised to get screened for colorectal cancer. However, for individuals with family history of colorectal cancers, are advised to screen by age 40 years old, or even sooner” said Dr. Indrakrishnan.
Racial and ethnic background is major indicator behind the risk of colorectal cancer. African Americans have the highest colorectal cancer incidence and mortality rates of all racial groups in the US. The reasons for this are rather multi-factorial with some ethnic genetic link playing a role. Jews of Eastern European descent (Ashkenazi Jews) have one of the highest colorectal cancer risks of any ethnic group in the world.
The danger of the disease is that there are no symptoms until the cancer spreads, warned Dr. Indrakrishnan. The common symptoms are anemia, intermittent bleeding, change in bowel habits, bloating stomach, and frequent stomach pains..
There are several early detection diagnostic tests available including stool immunochemical test, cologuard test, and colonoscopy. Colonoscopy is the gold standard test as this allows the physician to remove the precancerous lesions (polyps) and prevent the cancer development and also obtain samples of any suspicious lesions.
Colon cancer is the most easily preventable, curable & treatable cancer but still remains as the second common cause of cancer deaths. This can be changed by increasing the awareness about colon cancer among the public. Most insurances cover the colon cancer testing under preventable care.
Dr Indran Indrakrishnan can be reached at 678-377- 8252 and his office is located at 475, Philip Blvd, suite# 304 , Lawrenceville, GA 30046.
