(chiming music)
- Everyone needs screening.
Everyone's at risk for colon cancer
and that's the scary thing.
It is thought from all the techniques
and the screening studies that have been done up to now
that we could prevent up to 90% of colon cancers
if we could just remove every polyp
before it became a cancer.
A polyp is a growth in the wall of the colon,
like a mole or something like that.
Some polyps will go on and turn into a cancer.
The reason cancer is bad is because it spreads,
and that's why people get sick.
If it just sat there like a little polyp
and never did anything, it wouldn't be so bad,
but as it gets bigger, it can block the wall of the colon
so things can't get out.
It can grow into the wall
and that way spread to liver and lungs,
lymph nodes,
and that's the way it causes illness.
It's in the spreading process and the growing process.
There are no symptoms.
You can't feel a polyp and very rarely,
only if it's the right place and the right side,
it may give you a little bit of blood,
either in your stool that you can see,
or that we can test for.
- Colonoscopy is a test that would be recommended
by your physician, ordered by your physician,
and should be performed beginning at the age of 50
for all patients at average risk.
By average risk, we mean that men and women who do not have
a family history of colon cancer,
and who do not have certain underlying chronic illnesses
that may predispose them to an increased risk
of colon cancer.
There are certain chronic illnesses
that may predispose you or put you at an increased risk
for developing colon cancer,
and one in particular is inflammatory bowel disease,
including Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.
Men and women who do not have
a family history of colon cancer
and who do not have certain underlying chronic illnesses
that may predispose them
to an increased risk of colon cancer
should all begin screening at the age of 50.
If you're African-American, you should begin screening
at the age of 45.
So the recommended test is to undergo a colonoscopy,
and that's the most effective way of preventing colon cancer
because during a colonoscopy, the physician will take a look
at your entire colon, and if they see polyps or outgrowths
that are pre-cancerous lesions,
they're able to remove that during the colonoscopy.
Additionally, if they find a colon cancer at that time,
if it is at an early stage,
it can be addressed in the most effective manner,
and you have the best outcomes.
There are other potential mechanisms
by which to prevent colon cancer
and to screen for them, including tests such as stool tests
that can test for blood in the stool
that may be an early sign of colon cancer,
or additionally, a shorter colonoscopy
called the flexible sigmoidoscopy.
However, these are not quite as optimal
as undergoing a colonoscopy for prevention.
So the day or two prior to undergoing a colonoscopy,
the most important thing that a patient can do
is make sure that they have an adequate
and a very good prep.
That will allow the physician performing the colonoscopy
to be able to get a good look inside the entire colon
and to detect any polyps
that may be present or cancerous lesions.
If there is an inadequate prep or a poor prep,
then it's possible that the colonoscopy
may have to be repeated or repeated at a shorter interval
than would otherwise be recommended
if a good prep was performed.
The prep involves having a clear liquid diet only
the day prior to the examination,
and most importantly, to be drinking a solution.
There's various types of preps.
One that is most commonly prescribed now
is called a Miralax and Gatorade prep.
With the Miralax Gatorade prep, which is now available,
has an improved taste because you're using the Gatorade
in place of having more of a sulfite based solution.