Colorectal Cancer prevention with a simple nutrient Colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer in the United States. The emphasis on prevention for most cancers has changed a little since many of the screening procedures that we do hardly prevent the disease; they just catch it when it has begun to be a problem or in the worst cases, it has progressed by the time it was found. Colonoscopies do help diagnose, but they do not decrease your risk and are usually the gateway to interventions once a lesion has been found. The B vitamin Folic Acid, otherwise known as B9, will naturally reduce your likelihood of having this type of cancer. In 2008, the World Journal of Gastroenterology had shown that a daily dosage of 5 mg of Folic Acid resulted in a marked reduction in adults who developed the cancer. Perhaps Colorectal cancer is a byproduct of a deficiency of Vitamin B9. Check out this article in Dynamic Chiropractic regarding the effects of B9 on colon health. By James P. Meschino, DC, MS Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of cancer mortality in the U.S. and Canada. Although genetic susceptibility plays a role in the etiology of CRC, dietary factors, including certain vitamins, have also been shown to influence the development of the disease in various studies. The B-vitamin folic acid is one of the vitamins that has shown promise in the chemoprevention of CRC. Studies suggest a marginal deficiency in folic acid can lead to aberrations in DNA methylation, which may contribute to abnormalities in DNA synthesis and genomic instability. In addition, a number of animal studies and several case-controlled human studies have demonstrated CRC chemoprevention effects and negligible toxicity with folic acid administration.1 A ground-breaking study published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology in 2008 demonstrated that a daily dosage of 5 mg of folic acid resulted in a significant reduction in the recurrence of colorectal adenoma. Among the 94 subjects who completed the study (49 in the folic acid group and 45 in the placebo group), there was a threefold increase in polyp recurrences in the placebo group compared to the group receiving folic acid supplementation. The mean number of recurrent polyps (adenomas) at three years was 0.36 (SD, 0.69) for the folic-acid-treated group compared to 0.82 (SD, 1.17) for the placebo-treated group. Of note, patients under 70 years of age and those with left-sided colonic adenomas, or advanced adenomas, responded the best to folic acid supplementation.1 read more