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A couple of things you need to know quickly about cancer of the colon. First, it is among the most typical cancers. Second, early recognition saves lives.
There’s two primary procedures to screen for cancer of the colon — colonoscopy and versatile sigmoidoscopy. But what’s best? This is responsible for some debate within the medical community, but from the consumer perspective, that is one distraction. The end result is, whichever method you select, obtain a cancer of the colon screening.
Colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy both make use of a thin flexible tube having a camera in the finish to check out the colon. They differ within the regions of the colon they are able to see. Colonoscopy examines the whole colon, while sigmoidoscopy is really a partial exam that just covers the left side from the colon.
Sigmoidoscopy is frequently simpler on patients than colonoscopy. The prep isn’t as complicated and many people are not sedated throughout the exam. The issue with sigmoidoscopy is the fact that, sometimes, the area of the colon being examined is good, while there might be problems within the unexamined portion. The colonoscopy will identify these problems, the sigmoidoscopy alone won’t. Research conducted recently discovered that a substantial quantity of patients who’d no issues with the left side from the colon, had issues in other locations.
If you choose to obtain a sigmoidoscopy more than a colonoscopy, make certain there is also a fecal occult bloodstream test (FOBT), which could find cancer in most regions of the colon.
Screening must start at 50, unless of course you’ve got a genealogy of cancer of the colon, by which situation it ought to begin earlier. Colonoscopy ought to be done every 10 years, Sigmoidoscopy and FOBT every 5 years.
This Scripps Overall health tip was supplied by Walter Coyle, MD, a gastroenterologist at Scripps Clinic in North Park.
Resourse: https://scripps.org/news_products/
