Those recommendations I cited were for average-risk people without signs or symptoms of colon disease. For folks with certain symptoms or diseases or close family members with histories of certain types of cancers, screening exams may start as early as in the late teens.
FWIW, my doc says that a colonoscopy is the single best way of seeing that you don’t die of colon cancer. If you have any risk factors, you get it done occasionally, say, every three to five years, depending on how you look in there, if there are any polyps, etc. Unfortunately, the preparation is waaaaaaay worse than the activity, itself. That, no doubt, keeps lots of people away from an important procedure.
I’ve had a couple uncles with colon cancer, and cancer doesn’t just run in my family, it gallops. Of my mother and her 10 sibs, there’ve been 2 breast cancer (my mother and aunt and my sister), uterine cancer (my mother), kidney cancer, brain tumor, 2 colon cancers. My father (a non-smoker) died of lung cancer, and his mother died of pancreatic cancer, and his sister (and my sister and my nephew) had thyroid cancer. But except for mammograms, I avoid cancer screening. I don’t like invasive tests.
StG
St.G. - as far as I know, no one LIKES invasive tests. Most of us dread them, for the same litany of reasons you can no doubt cite. You, however, appear to be a candidate for the one we’re discussing. If fear or dislike - or whatever - is keeping you from doing it, then maybe a visit to your local shrink could help you find a healthy balance in your personal mixture of dread/action.
If you think colonoscopy is bad, try swallowing a small camera which is what I did. It’s the size of a pill and it goes through you taking pictures for 7 hours. You have to wear a big belt that captures the pictures in a small computer. It’s the latest technology to check out your small instestine. And then the Dr. has to look at all 10,000 pictures it takes. I also got cleaned out for that. In the end it turned out I was normal so it had a good ending.
You’d best take off the day before the test, as well. Particularly if you’re ever more than 6 feet away from a bathroom.
Your doc may say it, and it may even be true. But it hasn’t been rigorously demonstrated yet. Evidence is still lacking that colonoscopy reduces colon cancer mortality any more than annual fecal occult blood testing, for low risk individuals.
Frankly, I hope we do find effective, efficient ways other than colonoscopy to screen for cancer. If colonoscopy truly is the most effective way, and everyone over 50 should have a colonoscopy regularly, we’ll have to train a LOT more colonoscopists to handle all the folks that will need screening.
Recent studies did show that the longer a colonoscopist takes to do the procedure, the more likely he is to not miss a cancer. So as far as the screening procedure stands now, slow is good, and slower is better. :eek:
Your alternative is far worse than the “invasive” colonoscopy. Why would you risk death (or even major surgery and chemotherapy) for the sake of avoiding an occasionally inconvenient one-day test? Sure, the prep is horrid. So is dying or having to poop in a bag for the rest of your life.
They have virtual colonoscopy now which uses a CAT or MRI scan (can’t remember which one) so in the future the current procedure may no longer be needed.
I forgot to mention I woke up briefly during my colonoscopy. I told the doc “think I need more medicine” and I guess he gave me more and I quickly was back out like a light.
The CAT version still requires the same prep, so that’s not an advantage. Furthermore, it doesn’t seem to be as good at detecting smaller polyps as the more direct version does. Finally, if the doc does see a growth that should be removed, they go in there anyway. As of now, not a great advantage to the virtual version.
The only thing that really was bad about the prep to me was the lack of eating normal food for 1 day. Maybe I was lucky but I didn’t spend much time in the bathroom.
MLS - I’m more than a little phobic about doctos, although it’s better now than it used to be. Until I started getting old (I’m 47) I just didn’t go. Almost 30 years between doctor visits. Even thinking about them makes me anxious. I don’t trust them. I don’t like being touched by strangers and I certainly don’t intend to disrobe in front of them.
Just thinking about this has me wringing my hands. It’s pathetic.
StG
St. G: since by your own admission, your fears are irrational (phobic), your physical health can be addressed by working on your mental health first. The main advances in medicine in recent years relate to early detection and subsequent treatment of *treatable *issues. People who do not go to the doctor fairly regularly, especially when they get up around 50, are the ones who depress the statistics on longevity. Get your mind around the fact that you’re placing your health in some degree of jeopardy by not having a decent check-up once in a while. A good mental health pro can do wonders there. There are MANY out there. Then get some recommendations from friends and family (who will miss you if you check out prematurely) about good, compassionate doctors. There are MANY. Then go to one, and tell him/her about your issues with medicine, doctors, etc. If you feel comfortable with his/her response, continue. If not, shop around. It is ever so much better than living with the anxiety that you apparently suffer with, to say nothing of how much better a clean bill of health can make you feel. Now, get up off your dead one and go take care of yourself. We’re all counting on you. xo, C.