What You Need to Know About Dr. Oz's Cancer Scare

The internet is abuzz with the news that Dr. Mehmet Oz has a pre-cancerous polyp in his colon. Although it will be removed and was caught well before it could turn into cancer (and not every polyp becomes cancerous anyway), it seems totally disturbing that the TV doc/author/health guru could be at high risk for anything. He's in great shape and seems to let nothing but antioxidants pass his lips, has no family history of colon cancer, and he's only 50 years old. It makes you wonder, if this could happen to him, is there any hope for much-less-perfect me? And should I maybe even give up trying to live healthfully and eat all the French fries/drink all the beer/insert-favorite-vice-here that I want?  Although he's usually unfailingly positive, Dr. Oz was thrown by the news too.  He told People magazine:

This was a shakeup for me. I have done everything right. I don't have any family history, and yet I'm high risk now."

Because of his "high risk" status Dr. Oz will be screened again in three months, then five years after that. Another thing that's scary is that Dr. Oz says that if it weren't for his TV show (his colonoscopy was filmed for it) he probably would have put off getting the test for a while longer, with possibly deadly results. 

If you're over 50 you should immediately schedule a colonoscopy if you haven't already (90% of colon cancers occur in people older than 50). How often you have to undergo the procedure depends on a list of factors that includes your family history and your lifestyle.  If you're not at high risk and your initial colonoscopy comes back clear you might be able to wait as long as ten years before having another one. Of course, you should consult with your doctor to figure out what schedule is best for you.

In addition, you should know the symptoms of colon cancer, which include (according to the Mayo Clinic):

A change in bowel habits, such as diarrhea or constipation, or a change in the consistency of your stool that lasts for more than a couple of weeks

Blood in your stool or rectal bleeding

Ongoing cramps, gas or other abdominal pain

A feeling that your bowels aren't emptying completely

Persistent fatigue

Unexplained weight loss

Some of the factors that put you at higher risk for colon cancer are a high-fat/low-fiber diet, smoking, drinking to excess, obesity, diabetes and other bowel conditions such as colitis and Crohn's disease. African-Americans also have a higher risk of the disease than other races do. But then Dr. Oz doesn't have a single one of these risk factors, so all of us should be conscientious. Yes, a colonoscopy is unpleasant, time-consuming and just about the last way you want to spend the day, but if you haven't had one yet you need to take a cue from Dr. Oz's story and just do it.