Colon Cancer

Are people genetically programmed to seek the sun? Personally, I've always thought so. And now a new study suggests that there may really be a genetic impulse to seek the sun, though there's plenty of evidence that excess exposure to sunlight can cause skin cancer. In the study, published in the March 9 issue of CELL, Dr. David E. Fisher, director of the melanoma program at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, reported that the same biochemical process that leads to skin tanning also raises levels of a natural opiate, the "feel good" chemical, beta-endorphin.

Lowell Fulson, 77, a blues singer who helped launch the careers of Ray Charles and B. B. King and whose 1954 hit "Reconsider Baby" was recorded by Elvis Presley, died Sunday in Long Beach, Calif., of kidney disease, diabetes and congestive heart failure.Adolfo Bioy Casares, 84, an Argentine writer known for his use of fantasy and his collaborations with literary giant Jorge Luis Borges, died Monday in Buenos Aires.William Wrigley, 66, the third-generation chief executive officer of the chewing gum company founded by his grandfather, died Monday in Chicago of complications from pneumonia.

ATLANTA -- If it's the World Series, Scott Brosius must be in a groove.Sure beats the rut he was in during the season.The New York Yankees' third baseman was named Most Valuable Player of last year's Fall Classic after batting .471 with two homers and six RBIs. The image of Brosius, shouting with his fist raised as he rounded first base, is one of the clearest of the '98 Series.He held the broom that swept the San Diego Padres, and he reached for it again on Saturday. Brosius collected three hits in Game 1, poking singles to left, center and right in New York's 4-1 win over the Atlanta Braves.

In the amphitheater of the great teaching hospital, a 6-foot-5 executive with silver hair and a serious suit was talking renewal: a new cancer center in the fall, a research building by 2003, a new enterprise in Singapore.When the father of a girl with leukemia denounced the pediatrics center as cramped and decrepit, Dr. Edward D. Miller was ready with yet another plan for the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions: a $150 million Children's Center, with all the latest amenities."We have an insatiable appetite for things new," Miller told those gathered at his monthly town meeting.

WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg went home from the hospital yesterday, and the court announced that the colon cancer for which she underwent surgery had not spread.Ginsburg, 66, had been at the Washington Hospital Center for 11 days. The court's statement did not say when she would return to work, noting that she was "recuperating at home."Kathleen L. Arberg, the court's spokeswoman, revealed a number of details about Ginsburg's illness and surgery on Sept. 17. She said the colon cancer had reached "stage two," indicating a high survival rate after surgery.

TIOGA, Pa. - Joel Stephens grew up on a mountain where streams run clear, clouds graze the treetops and people walk deer trails instead of vice versa.Folks shouldn't get sick here, but Stephens did. Last November, colon cancer struck the 21-year-old Orioles farmhand, who came home to this hamlet in upstate Pennsylvania to beat the disease - or die trying. The latter, he says, is not an option."People signed me off at the beginning," said Stephens, who has lost almost 40 pounds."It's a tough cancer.

Q. Can constipation cause cancer? My mother is convinced that a daily bowel movement is essential for good health. She insists that constipation leads to colon cancer. I worry that she is hooked on laxatives. Haven't I read in your column that regular use is harmful?A. Researchers have repeatedly found an association between constipation and colon cancer. Constipation could be a symptom rather than a cause, however. A diet low in fiber (lacking in fruits, vegetables and whole grains) may not have enough of the nutrients that protect against cancer.

What can you say about this run of cancer in the Orioles' family? It's a harsh wind that won't stop blowing.A harsh wind that shakes us hard.Boog Powell, Eric Davis and Joel Stephens -- representing the club's past, present and future -- all were stricken with colon cancer last year. Powell and Davis recovered. Stephens, a minor-leaguer, died last week at age 22.Throughout the same year, Dave McNally, one of the club's greatest pitchers, battled lung cancer and prostate cancer.Now, this week, comes the news that Cal Ripken Sr. has been found to have lung cancer.

Antonio Ribeiro,69, the Roman Catholic cardinal of Lisbon, Portugal, died Tuesday of cancer. He became active in movements that sought to adapt the church to modern times after the reforms of Vatican II. He was elevated to cardinal in 1971.John S. Alessio,87, who built a multimillion-dollar business empire and helped develop safety helmets for jockeys, died Tuesday of cancer in La Jolla, Calif. His holdings over the years included the Hotel del Coronado, Mr. A's restaurant, the Kona Kai Club and insurance, finance and investment companies.

TORONTO -- The anniversary will pass tomorrow without celebration. Eric Davis, cancer survivor, is too busy savoring life.It was last June 13, as the Orioles opened a three-game interleague series in Atlanta, that Davis underwent surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in which a fist-sized cancerous mass was removed from his colon. A sizable piece of healthy tissue also was sacrificed. His season appeared over. His life was uncertain.Today the surgical scar remains, but the sharp pain that once doubled him over inside the visitors' dugout at Jacobs Field has vanished.

Anne Talbot Brennan, a longtime litigator with the Baltimore law firm of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston and a colorectal cancer activist, died Saturday of the disease at her home in Phoenix, Baltimore County. She was 50. Anne Talbot Hardy was born in Baltimore and raised in Lutherville and Long Green Valley. After graduating from John Carroll School, she earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia in 1980. Mrs. Brennan began her career as a litigator at Whiteford, Taylor & Preston after graduating from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1984.

Anger grows over rescue efforts in Cairo CAIRO, Egypt: Hopes diminished yesterday for finding survivors among hundreds of people believed trapped beneath massive boulders that destroyed an impoverished neighborhood on Cairo's outskirts, killing at least 32 people, including whole extended families. Anger and resentment mounted as authorities failed for a second day to get heavy machinery into the devastated shantytown to try to clear the large slabs that split away from the Muqattam cliffs early Saturday.

LEROY SIEVERS, 53 NPR commentator Leroy Sievers, a National Public Radio commentator who turned his battle with cancer into a popular and touching radio and online series, died of the disease Friday at his Maryland home, NPR announced Saturday. He received a diagnosis of colon cancer in 2001. In 2005, cancer was found in his brain and lungs. A report on his chemotherapy treatments in February 2006 was broadcast on Morning Edition and met with an enthusiastic response from listeners.

Ellen W. Caprio, a medical secretary and bridge enthusiast, died of colon cancer Friday at her daughter's Parkville home. She was 68. She was born and raised Mary Ellen Wible in Hollywood, St. Mary's County. She was married in 1960 to Samuel J. Caprio, an electrical engineer who worked at the Patuxent Naval Air Station in St. Mary's County. Mrs. Caprio later dropped the Mary from her name after her marriage, according to family members. In 1969, the couple moved to Endicott, N.Y., and two years later, they moved to Severna Park.

People with a family history of colon cancer carry the emotional burden of knowing that they have twice the risk of developing the disease themselves. But a new study might ease some of their anxiety. Patients with a family history of colon cancer, the researchers found, are also more likely to survive it. The paradox, being published today in The Journal of the American Medical Association, could steer researchers toward new treatments and a better understanding of the disease. An estimated 153,000 cases of colon and rectal cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2008, according to the American Cancer Society, and about 50,000 people will die of it. Studies of twins show that about 35 percent of colon cancers are inherited, and about 11 percent of patients have at least two close relatives with the disease.

New findings by California researchers may change the way doctors think about colonoscopy -- a popular screening test for colon and rectal cancer. The research suggests that flat lesions growing on the colon wall are more common than previously thought -- and are five times more likely to be cancerous than the more well-known, protruding growths called polyps. Many doctors are not as familiar with the flat lesions, which are much more difficult to spot during colonoscopy, and may not know how dangerous they can be. "It has been thought in the past that big polyps were the big players that turned into cancer," said Dr. Peter Darwin, director of gastrointestinal endoscopy at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

They met as teenagers at her Sweet 16 birthday party and remained true to each other for nearly seven decades, sharing the bittersweet trials of marriage, child rearing, career changes, retirement and old age. And even when 99-year-old Marcello Giachino slipped into a coma and died last Saturday, his wife, Elizabeth, 92, knew she wouldn't be far behind. Minutes before he took his last breath, she whispered into his ear that she would be joining him soon. Five days later, Elizabeth was gone, too. The elderly lovers' deaths didn't surprise their three adult children.

J. Robert Hooper, a high-fiving state senator who has served since 1999, announced yesterday that he will resign, citing health problems that have rendered him unable to endure the demands of the statehouse. The 71-year-old Republican from Street has battled colon cancer for the past few years and suffered a mild heart attack in December. Participating in the special session of the legislature the past two weeks convinced him that he cannot keep up with the demands of the office, he said.

CARDIOVASCULAR A new generation of faster, twistier roller coasters can make the heart race up to 155 beats per minute and spur dangerous changes to heart rhythm in some people, according to a study released this week. One volunteer in the study, which took place on the Holiday Park Expedition GeForce roller coaster in Germany, experienced an episode of atrial fibrillation, and another experienced ventricular tachycardia -- both problematic changes in heart rhythm. The two volunteers recovered on their own after a few seconds.

Man plunges 25 feet into construction trench A man was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center yesterday afternoon after he fell about 25 feet into a trench at a construction site in Rosedale, a Baltimore County Fire Department spokeswoman said. The 48-year-old man had been repairing a pipe, near Chesaco and Severn avenues, that leads to the Back River Waste Water Treatment Plant. Shortly before 1 p.m., he fell from scaffolding into a trench that contained about 3 feet of water, said Fire Department spokeswoman Elise Armacost.