March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
Public can Learn and be Tested through Spalding Regional Medical Center
GRIFFIN, GA – Thursday, March 18, 2010 - Spalding Regional Medical Center, Sylvan Grove Hospital and Spalding Regional’s Urgent Care Center at Heron Bay are supporting the collaborative efforts of the Colon Cancer Alliance and the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation in promoting the seventh annual National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. We invite the public to come by these facilities to obtain useful information on recognizing and preventing this potentially deadly disease. Hospital technicians and nurses will be available to discuss risk factors and provide you with an EZ Detect Home Test. This test can be taken home and is simple, fast and sanitary (no stool handling) for detecting blood in the stool, one of the primary early warning signals of many health problems, including Colorectal Cancer. If this test were to prove positive, it does not mean you have the disease, but that you should take the results to your doctor for further examination. Please join us:
Spalding Regional Medical Center, Griffin: Tuesday, March 30th from 4 p.m. to 7
on Wednesday, March 31st from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., in Classroom One by the
Woman’s Center entrance.
Sylvan Grove Hospital, Jackson: Tuesday, March 30th from 4p.m. to 7 p.m. and
on Wednesday, March 31st from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., inside the main hospital
entrance.
Urgent Care at Heron Bay, Locust Grove: Tuesday, March 30th from 2 p.m. to 4
p.m. inside the main lobby.
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cancer killer in the United States with the American Cancer Society estimating there were 146,970 men and women diagnosed as of 2009, and an estimated 49,920 will die from the disease. Early detection of colorectal cancer however usually results in long-term survival. Colorectal cancer is one of the most detectable, and if found early enough, most treatable forms of cancer. Despite this currently only 37% of colorectal cancers are detected early when the cancer is still localized.
The more we can raise awareness of this disease, the more likely a person is to be screened and the better the chances the cancer will be found early. The U.S. Senate has declared March as National Colorectal Cancer Awareness month. This recognition of colorectal cancer provides a platform for health educators, advocacy groups, the media, public officials, physicians and patients to focus their efforts collectively in the battle against colorectal cancer.
“The most common symptom of early colorectal cancer is no symptom – that is why routine screening is so important,” says Spalding Regional Medical Center Gastroenterologist Dr. James Barlow. “In the absence of symptoms or risk factors, screening should start no later than age 50 and continue routinely – once is not enough. Men and women must make routine colorectal cancer screening a part of their regular healthcare.”
The Physicians and Staff of Spalding Regional Medical Center are committed to the health of everyone in our communities we serve. We invite you to visit on March 30th and 31st and learn more about this disease, and especially the importance of early detection. For more information about Colorectal Cancer, contact:
Colon Cancer Alliance at 877.422.2030
American Cancer Society at 800.227.2345