If there is ever a medical test that many people demur in taking, it is a colonoscopy test. The test in itself saves lives. Gastroenterologist surgeons use a scope to probe the membranes of your colon and rectum. The scope probes for evidence of polyp growths or other cancer cells and abnormalities. It is a screening procedure that is recommended for people over 50 years old.

Colon Cancer Does Not Give You Any Warning

You can be actively suffering from colon cancer and yet not show any symptoms at all. That is all the more reason why you should undergo a colonoscopy if you fall within the over-fifty age group. You are also at an even greater risk to suffer from this silent killer disease if there is a history of colon cancer in your family.

Why Do Many People Resist The Screening Test?

Apart from the fact that the colonoscopy test is an invasive procedure, it is the preparation, or prepping, that reduces people to bits. Yes the bowel prepping aids your surgeon to clearly see the status of your bowel lining via the scope's probing.

It's the liquid prepping solution, however, that you must swallow over several hours and the continuous associated gut assault of watery diarrhea and associated pain that causes severe distress, which people heartily complain about.

Prepping for Clearness Of Stool

The prepping you conduct at home before surgery day predicts how clear your stool is. If your stool is not clear, however, you cannot undergo the procedure. So far, there is no other FDA testing procedure that is approved or comes close to the accuracy of a colonoscopy screening even though the prepping is uncomfortable.

Locating and Excising Polyps

You of course stand a better chance of being cured of colon cancer when the disease is in its early stage. Screening offers you that chance when a surgeon performs a colonoscopy and finds and removes noncancerous polyps that could become cancerous later on. Therefore, do not cancel your future screenings.

Change Your Manner of Lifestyle Living

Ask your primary care physician for help so that you can conduct your everyday activities in ways that will steer you away from colon cancer risks. You already know the dangers of smoking and excessive drinking of alcohol and their links to cancers, but there may be other risk factors you are unaware of.

Exercise and Diet

Good exercise is found in walking for about 45 minutes every day. This helps you to avoid obesity problems that are associated with cancer diseases. Maintain a healthy diet, and ask your physician for a diet sheet to help you prepare healthy meals.

For more information about the procedure, contact a clinic such as Northwest Gastroenterology Associates.