Posted on 10/27/2014 2:22:29 PM PDT by TurboZamboni
Starting Monday, millions of people who have avoided colon cancer screening can get a new home test that's noninvasive and doesn't require the icky preparation most other methods do. The test is the first to look for cancer-related DNA in stool. But deciding whether to get it is a more complex choice than ads for "the breakthrough test ... that's as easy as going to the bathroom" make it seem. On one hand, the test could greatly boost screening for a deadly disease that too few people get checked for now. On the other hand, it could lure people away from colonoscopies and other tests that, unlike the new one, have been shown to save lives. It might even do both. "It looks promising," but its impact on cancer risk and survival isn't known, said Dr. Barnett Kramer, a National Cancer Institute screening expert.
(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...
The practitioners. Yes.
“...if a result came back positive...”
Grow up!
Colon cancer is among the most treatable cancers out there, with a VERY high success rate.
Especially if it’s caught early.
....which is WHY you SHOULD TEST!
No.
I wonder if it’s possible to fast for a certain number of days, and then take a mild laxative or even no laxative at all?
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It can’t. If you want the most comprehensive test, go with a full on old-fashioned colonoscopy. It is the best, but .. Unpleasant and expensive.
My BIL died of colon cancer. It started on the OUTSIDE wall of his colon and was very difficult to diagnose. All tests, colonoscopy and endoscopy turned up nothing. Months went by, they finally did a exploratory surgery after his colon has strangulated. He was loaded with cancer. They finally could see inside sections of his colon wall they showed different coloring from the cancer. Just saying this new test while great will miss some cases.
reminds me of that Phil Hartman SNL “Colon Blow” skit.
Unfortunately it screens for cancer. The invasive methods get polyps before the become cancer. I’ll stick with the invasive method
Not a clue, but I found that my Doc was very thorough about explaining exactly why he needed this specific set of procedures. I'd give yours a call and see what he or she says.
Without being overly graphic, I did get to see that "empty" isn't entirely empty, which is about what you'd expect in the plumbing biz.
After a gallon of the stuff, nothing froze up inside me for quite some time. Polyethylene glycol should not, however, be confused with ethylene glycol, which has been used in anti-freeze and is quite toxic.
Yeah, that is an important difference.
Thanks for the info! Definitely worthwhile to go through the un-enjoyable prep for the scope and getting an early treatment if needed.
Thank God for the poly!
And you would if you didn't do anything about it.........
I know something that most people don’t, that I will never get cancer (other than the unimportant few slow-growing cells in the prostate which all men have).
Like your BIL, one of my close relatives had colon cancer on the outside wall of the colon. She’d had a colonoscopy and nothing was found. A couple of years later, she began having pain, and that’s when the cancer was discovered.
It’s drinking all the dish water that gets to you
Sorry for your loss. I know by then there’s not much they can do.
Yes, sadly. She was a young and beautiful mother whose father died from colon cancer at the same age. After the colonoscopy, she thought she was safe. But, as it turns out, those who have a certain genetic predisposition to colon cancer tend to get this type - with the tumor growing on the outside. She tried everything, fought with everything she had. But the type of cancer she had was so fierce. She was gone within a year.
Sorry for your loss, too.
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