Product Description

The latest edition in the bestselling What Your Doctor May Not Tell You series explodes the myths and misconceptions about the third most common-and second most deadly-form of cancer in the United States. Over 50,000 men and women die from colorectal cancer each year-a particularly alarming statistic since it is also one of the most preventable and treatable cancers. In fact, it is estimated that over one-third of colorectal cancer deaths could have been avoided. Now, there's hope. This invaluable book contains important information on beating colorectal cancer, including the six biggest lifestyle threats, the three nutritional supplements anyone at risk should take, the optimal timeframe for screenings, the pros and cons of new detection tests, and how to effectively treat cancerous and pre-cancerous polyps with both traditional and alternative methods.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #931722 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

From Publishers Weekly
When NBC’s Katie Couric put colon cancer awareness on the map by having a colonoscopy done on the Today show, Pochapin was her family specialist. The gastroenterologist cared for Couric’s late husband and is now Medical Director of the Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health, which is dedicated to her husband’s memory. In this practical, conversational volume, the doctor contends that, when found early, colorectal cancer can be cured 90 percent of the time. He gives a comprehensive overview of the disease, detailing its causes and risk factors as well as the foods and life-style changes that can help prevent it. For those already diagnosed, Pochapin also provides an easy-to-follow guide to surgery and treatment options, clinical trials and recent advances in research. (Handy explanatory charts throughout the book help readers to digest all this information.) Above all, however, Pochapin champions colonoscopy screenings. "Please don’t let your apprehension, anxiety or embarrassment rule your common sense," he pleads; colonoscopy screenings are the best weapon against America’s second deadliest cancer. Unlike a mammogram or PAP smear, the test can both discover and remove cancer-causing polyps before they become problematic—yet most patients undergo the test too late to take advantage of its extraordinary effectiveness. An estimated 150,000 Americans will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer this year alone, and 57,000 of them will die from it. This clear, compassionate book is an invaluable all-in-one resource for those who want to prevent, or are currently confronting, the disease.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Physician in New Jersey
IF THIS BOOK SAVES JUST ONE LIFE, LET IT BE YOURS! This is a must for the baby-boomers!

What Your Doctor... is an outstanding book! I recommend it to all my patients at risk of colorctal cancer, who are turning fifty, or over fifty. I find so many patients are unaware of the signs and symptoms of this silent killer as well as the recommended testing to identify colorectal cancer.

In this well-thought out book, Dr. Pochapin calmly and gently presents everything one needs to know including the signs and symptom of the disease as well as preventative suggestions such as dietary modification, exercise, and colonoscopy to prevent colorectal cancer. He also helps guide those already afflicted with colon cancer.

I know many of my patients are hesitant to have a colonoscopy. Yet Dr. Pochapin's plain talking explanation seem to alleviate much of their fear and anxiety. Ultimately our goal as physicians is to prevent disease, not treat it.

While we eat healthier, exercise more and plan our retirement, we can not forget this insidious disease. Read Dr. Pochapin's book. Share its message with your family and friends. And if your family doctor does not remind you to get a colonoscopy, give him/her a copy of the book.

I want to thank Dr. Pochapin for writing this timely book. It is
making a difference in my practice.

Dealing With Colorectal Cancer
As a two-time colorectal cancer survivor, I strongly recommend this book as the best I've come across on the subject. Having read extensively on this topic in medical journals, medical websites, books and periodicals, I believe that this book is unique. It ties together the myriad factors and interrelationships that make cancer in general, but colorectal cancer in particular, so perplexing to the patient, the patient's loved ones and support group members from initial diagnosis through treatment to recovery or recurrence. Dr. Pochapin also stresses the importance of compassionate care in the current specialist oriented managed care environment.
The book explains in layman's terms how you can avoid getting the disease, what to do when diagnosed with it, and how to minimize your chances of recurrence.
Most importantly from a public health perspective, it describes the various diagnostic tests available and gives an overview of their respective advantages and limitations. The book explains its strong recommendations for colonoscopy screening for everyone age 50 or older. The colonoscopy serves as the gold standard diagnostic test and is unique among cancer diagnostics in that it can also be the cure in most cases where the cancer is confined to the polyp removed during the procedure.
The author does an excellent job explaining the medical profession's current understanding of the causes of this disease and the workings of the gastrointestinal tract. Dr. Pochapin describes how diet, vitamin and chemical supplements, and lifestyle changes should lower your chances of getting this cancer and presents the empirical evidence supporting these recommendations.
The sections on diagnosis and treatment are a clearly written guide on what to do if you are diagnosed with this cancer, how to interpret the diagnosis, what to expect in terms of the various treatments currently available, their respective ramifications and how best to cope with them. The book doesn't delve into the background and use of blood markers, such as CEA, or into the various chemotherapy regimens, radiation protocols and surgical options, perhaps to steer clear of patient's natural tendency towards self-diagnosis and simplification.
The tone of the book is upbeat and positive, and leaves you with the feeling that this cancer can be beat. Colorectal cancer is avoidable for the most part, diagnostics are continually improving, the preparation for the tests is becoming less arduous, and research into new techniques for improving cure rates are in the pipeline.
Read it. Give it to anyone you know 50 or older. Certainly give it to those currently fighting this disease.

THIS BOOK SAVED MY LIFE.
Perceiving myself to be in the best of health, I had, for year, postponed subjecting myself to a colonoscopy. Reading this book motivated me to overcome my resistance and ignorance and schedule a screening. The colonoscopy revealed a few (benign) polyps which were removed during the procedure, plus a cluster of polyps which could only be removed by hemicolectomy. The first shock was seeing the cluster on film; the second shock was the need for abdominal surgery; the third shock was the pathology report which confirmed a small, superficial cancerous lesion in the earliest stages of growth. The lesion had not yet penetrated inward, nor had it reached the lymph nodes. But it would have - possibly in as little as three or four months. Buy this book. Read it. Schedule a screening. It just might save your life.