Mutations in certain genes can cause cells to continue dividing even when new cells aren't needed. In the colon and rectum, this unregulated growth can cause polyps to form. Polyps can develop anywhere in your large intestine.
Common Causes of Colon Polyps
A diet high in fat and low in fiber can contribute to the forming of colon polyps as well.
WASHINGTON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - The essential nutrient choline -- found in red meat, poultry, eggs and milk -- may increase the risk of colon polyps, at least for women, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
“Polyps love to eat fructose and glucose and they use it to grow. They're just like humans,” said Dr. Lewis Cantley, one of the lead authors of the study and director of the Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine.
If you have nasal polyps, you'll usually be given steroid nose drops or a spray to shrink the polyps. You may be given steroid tablets, usually for up to 2 weeks, if: your polyps are large. nose drops and sprays did not work.
There were no significant associations between vitamin D categories and colorectal polyp and colorectal cancer. However, when further analyzing by type of polyp, the risk of hyperplastic polyps significantly decreased with increasing vitamin D levels (P for trend=0.006).
Colon polyp development involves genetic and epigenetic changes and environmental effectors such as stress in this process can drive the normal colonic epithelial cells to hyperplastic and adenomas [25-27].
Bowel polyps are caused by an abnormal production of cells. The lining of the bowel constantly renews itself, and a faulty gene can cause the cells in the bowel lining to grow more quickly. There may be a family tendency towards developing bowel polyps or bowel cancer.
Most polyps grow slowly and take from between 10 and 15 years to become cancerous. Due to this general time frame, most screenings are scheduled every 10 years which gives Colorectal Surgical Associates time to remove any polyps before they become cancerous.
Taking a multivitamin -- most of which contain 400 IUs of vitamin D -- was associated with reducing polyp risk by about 25%. These multivitamins also contain adequate amounts of calcium, folate, vitamin E, and selenium, which Lieberman also found to help lower polyp risk, "but not as much as vitamin D," he says.
After twelve months, doctors evaluated the health condition of the patients, such as the incidence of potential pre-cancerous lesions (polyps) by colonoscopy. Interestingly, "green tea drinkers" had approximately two times less occurrence of polyps compared to the "non-green tea drinkers"!
Small polyps without symptoms might resolve on their own. Treatment of small polyps is unnecessary for those who aren't at risk of uterine cancer. Medication. Certain hormonal medications, including progestins and gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists, may lessen symptoms of the polyp.
The options for removal include: Removal with forceps or a wire loop (polypectomy). If a polyp is too large to remove with this method, a liquid may be injected under it to lift and isolate the polyp from surrounding tissue so that it can be removed. Minimally invasive surgery.
Exercise—including at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity and 2 sessions of muscle strengthening per week. Eat at least 3-5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Avoid fatty and processed foods and red meat in excess. Low-dose aspirin every day has been shown to decrease colorectal polyps and cancer.
Other high-fiber fruits like pears, apples and bananas (a good source of magnesium) also promote good digestive and colon health and reduce the risk of colon cancer.
In the current analyses, participants with higher poultry meat consumption had a higher colorectal polyp prevalence, especially multiple polyp prevalence and small polyp prevalence.
There is no association between poultry consumption and the prevalence of colorectal polyps in this study. Keywords: adenomas; meat; polyps; processed meat; red meat.