Saturday, March 16, 2013

Best Way to Avoid Colon Cancer

Examining is the best way to avoid colon cancer. But should everyone get a colonoscopy?  Not so fast.The recommendations for colon cancer testing are pretty clear: Start testing at age 50 and continue through age 75 with a colonoscopy every 10 years, a sigmoidoscopy every five years or a fecal blood test every year. Those who have a high chances of colon cancer should be analyzed more often and starting at an early age.For people over 75, it all comes down to benefits and risks.
The benefits of colon cancer tests that it can recognize precancerous polyps before they have a probability to become malignancies. Removing the polyps controls the problem. However, most polyps become malignancies quite progressively, and the procedure to recognize and remove them provides risks like bleeding, illness and perforation of the colon.

Why worry about finding a cancer that will do no harm in your lifetime?  You only want to do the testing when the key benefits of improving life by preventing melanoma over-shadow the risks of the testing itself. For most people, the right cutoff is age 75.


Unfortunately, it looks like a lot of older People are unnecessarily putting themselves at risk. A research found that 32 percent of the colonoscopies performed in people ages 76 to 85 were probably inappropriate. It’s one thing to get a colonoscopy when it is likely to be beneficial; it is entirely another problem to have one done when you do not need one.

It might seem like the more you get analyzed, the healthier you will be. But that is just not real. Here are some of the latest testing recommendations to help you avoid getting over-tested:

    Cervical cancer: Pap evaluate every three years for females between the age categories of 21 and 65; no testing for females older than 65, unless they are at risk for cervical cancer, or for females younger than 21.
    Prostate cancer: No PSA-based testing for prostate cancer at any age.
    Chests cancer: Mammogram every two years for females between the age categories of 50 and 74. Examining based on risks and a conversation between doctor and woman for those younger than 50. Women 75 and older should also foundation testing options on a conversation with a doctor.
    No testing at all for testicular cancer, pancreatic cancer or ovarian cancer.

On top of their medical care risks, unnecessary tests cost time and money. So do yourself a favor and invest in the tests that are right for you.

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