Good News About “Difficult” Colon Polyps

› By Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.

Every year, tens of thousands of people face serious colon surgery to remove big polyps before they can morph into colon cancer. Many have part of their colon removed at the same time—and face a long, painful recovery. Now, an important new study shows that for most, it may be safe to simply snip out even large polyps during a colonoscopy.

Although most polyps are removed during a colonoscopy, if they’re big—about 3/8 of an inch across, the size of a marble or bigger—or are in a hard-to-reach spot, colon surgery often is recommended, even though doctors aren’t sure if

For the study, researchers at the Cleveland Clinic checked the health records of 439 people who’d undergone colon surgery for a polyp. Turns out a whopping 92 percent of big polyps were benign. Just 8 percent had signs of cancer or precancerous cells.

“Our study is a real eye-opener; it’s the first step showing the low incidence of cancer in these large polyps,” says the lead researcher Emre Gorgun, M.D., FACS, FASCRS, a staff surgeon in the department of colorectal surgery. “Ninety-two percent of patients had their colon removed for noncancerous reasons.”

Here’s why we think this study is significant: The researchers conclude that sparing the colon by removing only the big polyp would be just as effective, in terms of cancer prevention, for many people as removing the colon. And it would let thousands sidestep the risks and side effects of colon-removal surgery, also known as colon resection or colectomy.

“Colon resection doesn’t come for free—it’s a major abdominal operation associated with the risk of serious adverse events,” Dr. Gorgun notes. This procedure is done under general anesthesia and often involves a 6- to 8-inch incision in the abdomen. Several inches of the colon are removed. The remaining sections are then stitched or stapled back together. Risks include leakage from the colon into the abdomen and infections. Recovery can be painful, could keep you out of work for up to three weeks and involves restricting activity and following a special diet for a month or more. In this study, nearly one in five people who had colon resections for polyps had complications of their surgery within a month.

According to the American Cancer Society, more than 134,000 people will be diagnosed with this cancer, and more than 49,000 will die from it this year. The good news: Cancer rates are dropping as more people get colonoscopies. The United States Preventive Services Task Force recommends screenings start at age 50 and continue as needed up to age 75 (older or younger screenings can be decided by your doctor). Yet one in three adults hasn’t been screened. Perhaps that’s why colorectal cancer is still the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in America.

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Why did the chicken cross the road? To live in your yard, of course!

BY CYNTHIA MCFARLAND

In case you hadn’t noticed, backyard chickens are all the rage lately. Even in town, it’s become trendy to have a few hens.

In addition to providing fresh eggs and adding a touch of “Green Acres” charm to suburban yards, chickens are great at controlling bugs, including mosquitoes and ticks.

According to the Marion County (Florida) Zoning Department, you can have up to six hens (sorry, boys, no roosters allowed) in residentially zoned properties. Just be sure to keep your poultry “at least 150 feet from any residence other than that of the animal’s owner.”

Once you’ve decided to jump on the chicken bandwagon, you need a place to put them. Spend a little time online and you’ll find more ideas for coops than you can shake a chicken leg at. You can pick from simple and rustic to elaborate designs with ornate trim and fanciful architectural details that elevate the plain “chicken house” to a work of art.

If you possess basic carpentry skills, you can download plans to build your own. You want the structure to last, but skip the pressure-treated lumber, which contains chemicals that can be harmful to chickens. Instead, choose naturally rot-resistant lumber; cedar and redwood are good choices.

If your DIY skills are limited, or you don’t have the right tools, you can choose from numerous readymade coops or models that require simple assembly.

Include The Basics

Whether you build or buy, every good chicken dwelling has certain necessities. Your birds need two main spaces, and they should be connected: an enclosed coop where they’ll sleep and lay eggs, and a run where they can get fresh air, exercise, socialize and take the occasional dust bath.

You’ve heard the horror stories of how factory farm hens live their sad, short lives in a space not much bigger than a sheet of 8-1/2 x 11-inch paper. It doesn’t take a lot of effort or expense to provide far more spacious digs for your chickens. But before you decide what size coop and run to build or buy, you need to have a general idea of how many chickens you plan to keep.

According to the experts at mypetchicken.com, a Connecticut-based business that sells chicks and all the chicken supplies you can imagine, the minimum amount of space inside the coop is two to three square feet per bird, and four to five square feet in the outside run. Bigger is better; for happier, stress-free hens, allow for more space than the minimum.

Ventilation is crucial; otherwise, your girls might come down with respiratory problems. You don’t want the coop drafty, nor do you want it snug and tight, which will make it too hot and a breeding ground for bacteria.

While the run is obviously at ground level, the coop should be off the ground two feet or higher. Because it’s your chicken’s “house,” the coop needs some basic amenities. There should be an opening about 12 x 12-inches square with a gradually sloping ramp (no less than eight inches wide) that leads down into the run so the hens can come and go as they please. You’ll need a larger door on the side so you can clean out the interior and access the water and food.

Speaking of which, hang the water and feed sources above the floor of the coop. Make sure there’s enough roosting space for all your birds, allowing about 10 inches when they’re roosting side by side.

Screening on the floor of the coop under the roosting poles allows the droppings to fall through to the ground below. (Think of this not as manure, but as free fertilizer for your yard and garden!) about six inches above the floor to keep chickens from walking into them and spilling the contents.

Ideally, you will situate the run so it has shade from a tree. If no trees are available, drape shade cloth over at least part of the top of the run so your chickens don’t get too hot in the sun.

The coop is also where you place nesting boxes (one box for every four to five hens). You can buy ready-made wooden nesting boxes, but plastic kitty litter boxes also work great and are a breeze to clean. Whichever you use, fill them with clean straw.

You don’t want the chickens to sleep in their nesting boxes (too messy), so you need to provide places for them to roost at night. Poles (or tree branches) two inches in diameter are ideal and should be installed higher than the nesting boxes, at least a couple feet

Otection Om Edators

If you’re going to keep chickens, you’ve got to think about predators. Unfortunately, hawks, coyotes, raccoons, foxes, opossums, bobcats— not to mention dogs—all look at chickens as part of the food chain. Make sure your coop/run is secure and predator proof—not just from all sides but also from the top and bottom. Despite its name, chicken wire isn’t the best choice for penning your chickens in. It’s flimsy, and the holes aren’t small enough. For much better protection, opt for “hardware cloth,” which isn’t cloth at all but resembles stiff wire screen. It comes in different size increments; your safest choice is the one-half-inch squares. You’ll need small fence staples (sometimes called “poultry staples”) to attach the wire securely to the wood.

You’d be amazed what raccoons can open, so use latches that can be locked; a snap or carabiner clip should do the trick.

For ultimate safety, use the hardware cloth as a “floor” on the ground of the run, as well, so predators can’t dig under. Otherwise, you’ll need to bury the screening down into the ground at least one foot deep on all sides of the coop.

For extra protection, you can buy wolf urine or coyote urine (no, we’re not kidding) and use it around your chicken coop to deter predators. Available online (mypetchicken.com has both wolf and coyote urine in liquid and granule form), it will keep away a variety of critters.

Stocking Your Coop

Local garden/feed stores sell chicks in the spring, but you can order throughout the year from suppliers. If your heart is set on specific breeds, however, there may be some wait time.

Given our typical fall weather, this is actually a good time to order your backyard chicks. Young hens start laying when they’re about 6 months old, so if you order your pullets (girl chicks) in the fall, they’ll be ready to start producing next spring.

Chicks aren’t expensive (expect to pay anywhere from $2.75 to $4.50 (higher for more rare breeds), but suppliers usually have a minimum order, and there are shipping costs, as well.

When your chicks arrive, they’re too small and fragile to head to the coop. You’ll need to keep them indoors; a cardboard box and heat lamp will be home for the first few weeks. And watch the weather as you transition them outdoors. Young chickens can’t handle the cold.

A healthy, well-cared-for backyard hen can live for eight to 10 years or longer, so build her a house she’ll appreciate and you’ll be proud of. Order

Or just type “chicken coop plans” into an Internet search engine.

BY BRETT BALLANTINI

For such a populous and hightech state, Florida remains full of blessed “dark spots” that enable stargazers to enjoy a buffet of sights in the nighttime sky.

Although you’ll have to trek down to Big Pine Key in the Florida Keys to arrive at a location that is routinely listed among the best 10 or 15 stargazing spots in the country, there are plenty of dark-spot pockets on the mainland you can use to successfully peer up at the heavens.

Freebie Fridays

A great place for a stargazing newbie to begin is one of Gainesville’s University of Florida “Public Nights,” which are held every Friday from 8:30-10pm when classes are in session and the skies are clear.

UF’s Public Nights encompass a range of activities, including observation of the moon, planets and stars through 8-inch and 12-inch telescopes; use of a CCD imaging camera to photograph what you see through the telescope as a memento; view Hubble Telescope images and those of other remote telescopes; children’s demonstrations; and Q&A sessions that can help guide your future stargazing.

Contact UF Astronomy for more information (including directions) and dial (352) 392-1016 after 7:30pm on Public Nights to determine Gainesville weather conditions.

Other clubs in Central Florida include:

• Alachua Astronomy Club (Gainesville)

• Central Florida Astronomical Society (Seminole County)

• Local Group of Deep Sky Observers (Sarasota/Bradenton)

• M.A.R.S. Astronomy Club (Tampa Museum of Science and Industry)

• Undergraduate Astrophysics Society of the University of Florida (Gainesville)

• University of Central Florida Astronomy Society (Orlando)

Planetarium Alignment

A planetarium is a museum of stars, in a sense. So if you are looking for an educational experience to complement your glimpses at the actual sky, opt for an indoor show that is sure to teach you a few things about your next stargazing mission. Here are some options:

• Daytona Museum of Arts and Sciences Planetarium (Daytona Beach)

• Eastern Florida State College Planetarium (Cocoa)

• Emil Buehler Perpetual Trust Planetarium, Seminole State College (Sanford)

• Kika Silva Pla Planetarium, Santa Fe College (Gainesville)

• Saunders Planetarium, Tampa Museum of Science and Industry

392-2052 x229 › public@astro.ufl.edu › astro.ufl.edu/ outreach/Public_Nights.

Go Clubbing

Another good starting point for a new stargazer would be joining an astronomy club. The Ocala Astronomy Club currently boasts three dozen members and can be reached at (352) 680-1737 or kking660@ earthlink.net for future meeting and event information.

Most of the rest of the world sees the Big Dipper as a different object, like a wagon. In France, it’s the Great Chariot; in Ireland, it goes by King David’s Chariot; in Britain, the constellation is known as the Plough.

See The Constellations

The most well-known constellation in the Northern Hemisphere isn’t really a constellation at all. The Big Dipper (along with its smaller companion, the Little Dipper) is merely a component of the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear) and is considered an asterism (an interesting, easily recognizable star pattern). If you peer northward, you should easily see seven bright stars that comprise it. Most of the rest of the world sees the Big Dipper as a different object, like a wagon. In France, it’s the Great Chariot; in Ireland, it goes by King David’s Chariot; in Britain, the constellation is known as the Plough.

So, while the sky’s most famous “constellation” isn’t actually a constellation, there is still plenty to see; in fact, winter is the best time of year to catch stars and constellations in the night sky.

Turn southward, and the clear, dry winter air reveals a sky rich with stars, one of the spiral arms of our Milky Way Galaxy; and seven of the 21 brightest (first magnitude) stars in the entire night sky can be seen in winter’s southern sky.

The greatest of all constellations, Orion (The Hunter), is a rectangle of bright stars, two corners of which are first magnitude stars Betelgeuse and Rigel. The rectangle is also bisected by a diagonal row of stars termed “the belt,” while another trio of stars below the belt comprises “the sword.”

Tracking down and to the left of “the belt” is a brilliant, white star, the brightest in the heavens: Sirius. Sirius leads the constellation Canis Major (The Great Dog). In winter, refraction makes Sirius sparkle in a rainbow of colors.

Up and to the right of Orion’s belt is a V-shaped star grouping called the Hyades, which comprises the head of Taurus (The Bull). At the upper-left end of the V is Aldebaran, the reddishorange eye of the Bull. Farther out from the Hyades is a small star cluster that can be seen with the naked eye, the Pleiades (Seven Sisters).

The uppermost horn of Taurus is part of a pentagon that includes a bright yellow star, Capella. The pentagon itself is the constellation Auriga (The Charioteer). Auriga is above Orion and sits directly overhead of our Northern Hemisphere in the middle of winter. Extend a line from Orion upward through Rigel and Betelgeuse to the rectangular constellation Gemini (The Twins), containing bright stars Pollux and Castor.

To the left of the line connecting Sirius, Pollux and Castor is the first magnitude star Procyon. Procyon forms an equilateral triangle with Betelgeuse and Sirius to form Canis Minor (The Little Dog).

When To See The Sights

There are numerous notable astronomical dates through the end of the year:

• November 4-5: A Taurids meteor shower produces only five meteors per hour, but many are fireballs, from late night to dawn.

• November 14 (and December 14): The full moon phase (supermoon) happens when a full moon or new moon gets closest to Earth, making it look around 12-14 percent bigger than a micromoon.

Florida has several impeccable dark spots open to anyone with a telescope, binoculars or merely a pair of eyes.

• November 17-18: The Leonid meteor shower is so named because the meteors seem to emerge from the constellation Leo. This shower occurs every 33 years, when the Earth passes through debris of the comet Tempel-Tuttle. You should see around 20 meteors per hour, best after midnight.

• November 29 (and December 29): The new moon phase means the moon is not visible, making it easier to stargaze on other celestial bodies.

• December 11: When Mercury is at its greatest Eastern elongation, it is most easily seen after sunset. Mercury is normally very hard to see because it orbits so near the Sun.

• December 13-14: The Geminid meteor shower should be so bright that it outshines the light of the supermoon on December 14.

• December 13-14: Jupiter will rise in the east, so from 2am to sunrise, Jupiter will be extremely visible.

• December 21: Winter solstice (5:44am EST) is the longest night of the year, when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Capricorn.

• December 21-22: The Ursids meteor shower is so named because the meteors seem to emerge from the constellation Ursa Minor. Like the Leonid, it occurs every 33 years, when the Earth passes through debris of the comet Tempel-Tuttle. You should see around 10 meteors per hour.

Time To Observe

If you’re ready for some serious stargazing, head to one of many Central Florida observatories to supercharge your view of the universe: