Colonoscopies save lives, and there’s conclusive scientific evidence to prove it. After tracking patients for 20 years, researchers writing for the New England Journal of Medicine reported that the death rate from colorectal cancer is 53 percent lower when patients have polyps removed because of early colonoscopy detection. Even so, patients all over the world do everything possible to avoid colonoscopies. In the United States, six out of 10 patients aren’t up to date on their colonoscopy exam. In Spain, doctors also found that when people were offered a colonoscopy test, only 24.6 percent of them took it.
Colonoscopy is one of the few cancer screenings proven to save lives by finding cancer at its earliest stages. Even though colonoscopies aren’t the most pleasant way to spend the day, they’re a better than going through cancer treatment or dying.
How Does a Colonoscopy Prevent Cancer?
Almost all colon cancers start out as growths called adenomatous polyps. These polyps grow inside the large intestine, and a colonoscopy is one of the best ways to detect their presence. An estimated 15 percent of women and 25 percent of men in the general population have polyps growing in their colons. Doctors usually remove polyps as a preventive health care measure, even though not every polyp turns into colorectal cancer.
Colonoscopies are very expensive, and there is a slight risk that the doctor might perforate the colon. They can also be uncomfortable, which is why many people avoid them. Fortunately, they don’t have to happen too often as long as no polyps are detected. Experts recommend that patients have their first colonoscopy at age 50. If they have no polyps, they can repeat the exam once per decade. If doctors do find and remove polyps, patients are encouraged to repeat the procedure every three years.
What Happens During a Colonoscopy?
A Colonoscopy begins the day before the exam with a thorough cleansing of the bowels. Patients drink as much as a gallon of a unpleasant solution, called MiraLAX. Then, they let the liquid do its work, which is to cleanse their colons of stool. All patients are allowed to eat are certain flavors of gelatin, clear broth, popsicles, and black coffee or tea.
The cleansing process isn’t fun, but it’s vital to the success of the procedure. According to research published in the journal Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, doctors miss at least one precancerous growth in one-third of patients who fail to follow instructions related to cleansing. Fortunately, there are some ways to make the cleansing just a little bit easier:
- Drink Gatorade. When patients combine 306 grams of MiraLAX along with two liters of Gatorade, they report less bloating and cramping because the body maintains its electrolyte balance. Ninety-nine percent of patients who drink Gatorade consume all of their MiraLAX, and 96 percent of their colons are adequately prepared for colonoscopy.
- Petroleum jelly. The body passes not only food waste from the colon but also digestive enzymes. To prevent painful burning during your bowel movements, patients coat their bottoms with petroleum jelly every time they finish wiping with toilet tissue.
After cleansing, patients report to a hospital or gastroenterologist’s clinic, where they’re sedated as doctors place an endoscope into the colon. If doctors find no polyps, the procedure lasts about 20 minutes. In cases where doctors do find polyps, they generally remove them while the patient is sedated.
Isn’t There a Way to Avoid All of This?
In the United States, the FDA recently approved a stool test called Cologuard as a way of screening for colorectal cancer. Cologuard analyzes the stool for hemoglobin, multiple DNA methylation, and other material that adenomatous polyps might shed. Cologuard is permissible for individuals with an average risk for colorectal cancer, but patients with higher risk for cancer should still have a colonoscopy. Risk factors include a family history of colorectal cancer, irritable bowel disease, and a history of polyps.
Hopefully, more countries will approve tests like Cologuard to make colonoscopies less necessary. Until then, you owe it to yourself and your loved ones to toughen up, do your cleansing, and get your colonoscopy.