Hospital to sponsor colorectal awareness program on July 9

Warwick — Are you over 50? Has anyone in your family had gastrointestinal cancer? Have you had a colonoscopy? No matter how you answered these questions, it will be to your advantage to attend a free colorectal awareness program at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, July 9. The event will be held in the Greenbriar Room at Mount Alverno Center, 20 Grand St., Warwick. Colon cancer is one of the most preventable forms of cancer. Yet, it is one of the three leading causes of cancer deaths in the United States. Each year, more than 50,000 people die of colon cancer. A simple procedure is all that is necessary to possibly save your life. Lance M. Siegel, MD, a Board Certified Gastroenterologist from the Medical Staff of St. Anthony Community Hospital will offer the presentation, which will include an informational discussion of the risks, benefits and warning signs of potential colorectal disease and treatment options followed by a question and answer period. Information on the new Center for Ambulatory Surgery and its relation to same day Diagnostic Colonoscopy by the hospital and the ability to have a simple, take-home screening test will also be provided. During the presentation, Siegel will cover five important points on the subject including prevention, lifestyle changes, family history, the genetics of the disease itself and screening methods. Siegel is a graduate of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. He completed a Gastroenterological Fellowship at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. He is a past Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Dept. of Medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York and a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine in the field of Internal Medicine and in the field of Gastroenterology. Siegel is currently in private practice with Monroe Area Medical Assoc., 70 Hatfield Lane, in Goshen. To register for this program call 987n5240.