A consultant, Laparoscopic General Surgeon, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Dr. Adedapo Osinowo has revealed that the excessive intake of high fat like Shaki, roundabout, ifun, kpomo, as well as smoked fish are high risk factors for the development of colorectal cancer among Nigerians.
He said other risk factors for the
relatively unknown cancer
were excessive intake of red meat, intake of
western diets like processed foods, sedentary lifestyle, diets lacking
fruits and vegetables, smoking and alcohol consumption, obesity,
sedentary, family history and increase in age.
Stating this during the launch of Niola
Cancer Care Foundation, a non governmental organisation that targets
awareness on colorectal cancer, the consultant said despite the numerous
causal factors for the cancer, there exist preventive measures, which
he lamented most Nigerians were not putting into consideration.
“These days, most Nigerians prefer to
order pepper soups with intestine, towel, and other orishirishi, as it
is called in the Yoruba dialect. While some others prefer to eat mostly
fast foods and other processed foods, with the thinking that they are
eating healthy. The truth is as one eats these delicacies overtime, they
are giving room for the development of non communicable diseases,
including colorectal cancer,” he added.
Colorectal cancer is a cancer that
starts in the colon or the rectum. These cancers can also be named colon
cancer or rectal cancer, depending on where they start. Colon cancer
and rectal cancer are often grouped together because they have many
features in common.
According to Osinowo, experts used to
believe it was a disease of the elderly, but warned that teenagers were
now coming down with it, adding that about 50 per cent of cases develop
from around the anus.
“On the symptoms, it usually doesn’t
present signs during the early phase of development. However, persistent
abdominal discomfort such as cramps, gas and pains could be signs.
On signs that must never be trivialised,
he said, “observation of blood in stool, the urge to defecate when in
the actual sense nothing is being passed out, change in bowel habit,
passage of mucus in stool, and unusual passage of gas must not be taken
for granted,” he added.
He said early detection was key to preventing the disease.
On her part, the Chairperson of the
Foundation, Eniola Salu Akintunde, whose late husband died as a result
of colorectal cancer said there was no need for any Nigerian to die of
the cancer as early detection could help in its treatment and total cure
unlike other cancers that could only be managed.
“If my husband’s illness was detected on
time, he would not have died, as there exist new technologies to remove
the malignant tumor,” she said.
While stating that colorectal cancer was
the 7th most common malignancy in Nigeria, she noted that cancer care
generally has not been high on the list of government priorities in
Nigeria, as only little was being done to create awareness and
prevention of the debilitating disease, adding that there was no logical
data in Nigeria that shows the percentage of people affected by colon
cancer.
“But it is evident that there is an
increase due to the new cases now and then. Also, the number of new
cases are underestimated as there is no postmortem routinely on dead
people. Moreover quite a number of deaths are not reported,” she added.
She called for the need to sensitise
Nigerians on the various cancers, as millions of Nigerians were still
suffering from a condition that has no adequate treatment facility in
the country.
“NCCF has a mission to carry out
campaigns across Nigeria and build six screening centres in the six
geopolitical zones in the country, and then instal screening machines in
all, beginning from Lagos,” she added.
The Group Managing Director, Reddington
Hospital, Tunde Lalude lamented that there exist only one or no
functioning radiotherapy machines in the country, even as several
Nigerians with cancer were clamouring for radiotherapy treatment. “I am
sure not more than one works at a time in the country, and this is
something that must be tackled,” he added.
by Martins Ifijeh
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