Despite her long journey back to Saida, 60-year-old Nazek Dali Balla did not want to leave the session on coronary heart disease and colon cancer prevention by Dr. Marwan Refaat, assistant professor of medicine at the Cardiology Division/Cardiac Electrophysiology section and Dr. Mohamad Eloubeidi, professor of medicine at the Division of Gastroenterology and associate chair for clinical affairs in the Department of Medicine at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) on Thursday, March 7 at Ajialouna organization headquarters, earlier than other attendees. “I came to learn about prevention, how to screen for diseases and how often. There’s a lot that I don’t know when it comes to heart disease and colon cancer, so I came to benefit from all this information,” says Nazek.
Along with her friend Leila (58), Nazek attends every health awareness session organized by Beirut-based Ajialouna, a social, healthcare and educational organization targeting the underprivileged in the Lebanese community to improve their standard of living and increase their awareness on diverse issues.
This is the first of many projected sessions on health awareness that Ajialouna plans to schedule with AUBMC physicians and experts. “I am an AUB graduate so I try my best to establish and maintain the collaboration between Ajialouna and AUBMC to provide people with medical knowledge from the best source,” explains Mrs Lina Kronfol, Ajialouna treasurer and coordinator of the cultural lectures within the Educational Department at Ajialouna.
The main objective of the session was to spread awareness amongst the public – predominantly the elderly – on the importance of screening for both coronary heart disease and colon cancer. Collaborations with local organizations such as Ajialouna provide another venue for AUBMC to promote important educational information, through its experts, to the local communities of Lebanon. This is particularly relevant given that March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month.
Dr. Refaat’s session on Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) started with discussing the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association practice guidelines for assessment of cardiovascular risk in asymptomatic adults. Dr. Refaat discussed global coronary and cardiovascular risk scores which help clinicians in assessing cardiovascular risk. Dr. Refaat placed particular attention on the significance of smoking as a risk factor, particularly water pipe, where every hour of smoking involves inhaling 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke inhaled from a single cigarette, and elaborated further on the risk factors specific to women as well as the cardiovascular tests that help in the assessment for coronary artery disease.
The next part of the session was on colorectal cancer prevention. AUBMC’s Prof. Mohamad Eloubeidi began his presentation by stating that “colorectal cancer is the type of cancer that is preventable, and curable if found early.” Colorectal cancer is the second deadliest cancer in women in Lebanon with a prevalence of 8% in female cancer patients; and the third most common cancer and third deadliest in the US with around 50,000 deaths across the country. Dr. Eloubeidi then proceeded to address colorectal cancer risk factors, which include personal history of inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) or colon cancer, family history of polyps*, colon cancer and genetic syndromes, a red or processed meat-rich diet, renal transplantation, smoking and heavy alcohol consumption. Protective factors against colon cancer include regular exercise, multivitamins, aspirin use, and hormone replacement therapy in women.
While discussing colorectal cancer (CRC) risk factors, Dr. Eloubeidi deliberated extensively on polyps – an important CRC risk factor in which early detection will significantly prevent its progression to carcinoma. He then spoke of the significance and cost-effectiveness of colon screening programs, stressing on colonoscopy* as the preferred modality. “The importance of colonoscopy is that it’s both diagnostic and therapeutic as it has the ability to not only detect, but also excise polyps and localized cancers. It’s also the most cost-effective,” explains Dr. Eloubeidi
Leaving Ajialouna, the audience took home three important messages from Dr. Eloubeidi’s session on colorectal cancer prevention: that colon cancer, a leading cause of cancer-related mortality, is highly preventable, colorectal cancer screening is cost-effective, even cost-saving when compared with no screening, and that colonoscopy is the most cost-effective.
*A polyp is an abnormal growth of tissue projecting from a mucous membrane. A colorectal polyp is one occurring on the lining of the colon or rectum.
*Colonoscopy is an exam that views the inside of the colon (large intestine) and rectum, using a tool called a colonoscope.
