(swooshing)
- Welcome to "Living Healthy Chicago," I'm Jane Clauss.
Part of living a healthy life is staying proactive
when it comes to annual screenings and preventative care.
So today, we're learning more about an exam
that too many people put off.
So, let's find out why getting a colonoscopy
is so important.
(swooshing)
Gastroenterologist, Dr. Deepa Shah is joining us today,
now, Dr. Shah, I know that you've made it your mission
to promote colorectal health, why is it important to you
to create this awareness?
- Colorectal cancer awareness is really important,
because it is the third most leading cause
of cancer mortality.
It is a preventable cancer if we do colonoscopies
and find polyps, we can remove them and prevent them
from turning into cancer.
Also, if we find cancer and it's in early stage,
we can effectively remove it or treat it
before it spreads throughout the body.
- So, let's start with the basics about a colonoscopy,
what exactly is it?
- Colonoscopy itself is an examination
where we insert a lighted thin flexible tube into the rectum
and all throughout the colon to visualize it,
and during the procedure if we see polyps,
we remove them and take them out.
So with polyps, there are different types of polyps,
there are what are called hyperplastic,
which are not cancerous at all.
All the other ones are generally precancerous,
and those trigger an increasd risk for colon cancer,
and an increased surveillance interval
for less than 10 years, depending the size of the polyp,
the histology of the polyp,
and how many polyps are detected.
- Take us through the exam, how long does it take?
- Patient needs to check in one hour
prior to the examination.
The procedure is scheduled for 30 minutes,
and then the patient is watched in recovery for 20 minutes,
just to make sure that there are not any complications
associated with the procedure.
- Let's talk about the prep, what do we need to know?
- Well, good news is that we have lower volume preps.
The prep itself is just in a little container like this,
you mix the packet in there and fill it up with water,
and you drink two of these.
So, you drink the first one from like 6:00-8:00 PM,
and then the second one early in the morning,
and some preps now that even having flavors.
- What is the recommended age
to have a colonoscopy screening and who should get it,
both men and women?
- Screening colonoscopy is recommended in the United States
for all adults, age 50 to 75.
This may change in the next year,
and it may change to 45 for both men and women,
but that is contingent on other society guidelines,
or if there's a strong family history of colon cancer,
that should prompt someone to find a gastroenterologist,
and have a colonoscopy done.
So, it is important to know the family history,
because there sometimes are genetics involved.
- Throughout this pandemic, people have been afraid
to actually go to get an exam or go to a hospital,
or an outpatient facility
because of the fear of getting COVID,
what kind of precautions have been put in place?
- We have not seen any patients contract COVID
from the facility, so, the other thing that we are doing
at the facilities, are having the patients tested
for COVID-19, pre-procedurely.
We are using PPE, Personal Protective Equipment,
to protect ourselves and the patients
from getting transmission.
It's important to go get screened, get it done,
because if you have polyps, if you have a early cancer,
you can prevent this, live longer,
and have a better quality of life.
- Great information, thank you so much Dr. Shah.
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just head to our website, livinghealthytv.com.