It also stores waste, particularly in the rectum, until it is passed from the body.

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Once a bear went down, they landed and collected a sample directly from its rectum.

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By then Kendall was suffering severe symptoms that would ultimately require surgeons to remove her entire colon and rectum.

FORBES: Three Thousand Words Of Warnings Not Enough

Carcinoid tumors occur most commonly in your gastrointestinal tract, including your stomach, small intestine, appendix, colon and rectum, or in your lungs.

CNN: Carcinoid syndrome

Epidemiologist Shirley Beresford says there was a significant decrease in polyps in the colon and rectum among women who maintained a low fat diet.

NPR: New Studies: Low-Fat Diets Don't Prevent Cancers

Colorectal cancer affects the colon (the large intestine) or the rectum.

CNN: Colorectal cancer: Find it before it finds you

This gland, usually the size and shape of a walnut and wedged between the bladder and the rectum, may be more trouble than it is worth.

FORBES: Men, Cancer, & Hope

"If you're male, you're going to have to go through the rectum, " said Dr. Sayeed Ikramuddin, director of gastrointestinal surgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

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During a colonoscopy, a doctor examines the inside of the colon and rectum by inserting a colonoscope, a thin, flexible instrument that sends images to a TV screen or computer.

CNN: Coming clean about my first colonoscopy