11/06/2025
Not directly associated with what I do but still an important part of your wellness journey.
10 Reasons To Schedule Your Colonoscopy Today
About 1 in 3 Americans who should be tested for colore**al cancer have never been screened. Here are 10 reasons why you should probably schedule your colonoscopy today.
Not enough people are screened for colore**al cancer. About one in three Americans who should be tested for colore**al cancer have never been screened. Colonoscopies are recommended for:
Everyone age 45 and older.
Younger people who have had a first-degree relative with onset of colore**al cancer at or before age 50. In these cases, the screening should take place at the age of onset for that relative minus 10 years. So, if your father developed colore**al cancer at age 45, you should start screening at age 35. If the family member was older than age 50, then you should have your first colonoscopy at age 40.
You can have colore**al cancer and not have any symptoms. A sudden and consistent change in bowel movements, unexplained anemia, as well as re**al pain and bleeding, are the most common symptoms, but some people won't notice any changes until cancer is in a later stage.
Screening is important for various types of cancer, but especially colore**al cancer. During the screening, doctors can find and remove early polyps long before they become cancerous tumors. In fact, a small polyp could take five to 10 years to turn cancerous. This is what makes colore**al cancer extremely preventable—and preventive screening extremely important.
As with all cancers, the sooner colore**al cancer is diagnosed, the better the chances a person can live a longer life, with a better quality of life.
As with many other serious health conditions, people appear to be at a greater risk of developing colore**al cancer if they’re obese, eat a diet high in red or processed meats, consume too much alcohol, smoke ci******es, or don't exercise regularly.
Even in its later stages, colore**al cancer is easier to treat than it was in decades past because of advances in surgical techniques and new chemotherapy agents.
In both men and women, colore**al cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer. About one in 20 Americans will be diagnosed with colore**al cancer at some point in their lives.
For reasons that aren’t fully understood, men are more than likely than women to be diagnosed with and die from colore**al cancer. This does not mean women should be any less concerned about their risk, however.
For reasons that aren’t fully understood, African Americans have the highest colore**al cancer incidence and mortality rates of all racial groups in the U.S.
A colonoscopy is an outpatient procedure that’s performed while you’re under sedation so there’s no discomfort. There are other testing options available, but these don’t definitively rule out any growths in the colon and often still require a colonoscopy if any abnormality is found.
Don’t put off this life-saving screening. To schedule your colonoscopy today.