If there were a one-in-19 chance that your house would be flooded in your lifetime, you’d make darn sure you had insurance. Yet one of every 19 Americans will be diagnosed with colon cancer at some point. And many — maybe you — aren’t signing up for insurance against it ravaging your internal house. A combination of making a few lifestyle tweaks and getting screened for colorectal cancer can go a long way toward protecting you. In fact, screening is such a powerful tool that there’s a nearly 90 percent chance for eradicating this type of cancer when it’s found early.
Worried a test will find something? Then increase the chances that it won’t. The usual wreck-your-health hit parade raises your risk of this cancer, so avoid these things: being obese or sedentary, eating a diet high in red or processed meats, consuming alcohol heavily and not eating enough fruits and vegetables. (Doesn’t sound like you, right? Great. We’re doing our jobs!).
