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March 18, 2012 Issue #5
Dear Friends,
The topic for today’s newsletter is the colonoscopy. It is a procedure that nobody looks forward to, but let me tell you why it is so important for you to have one when the time comes… Most tests that we do are not truly preventative. For instance, when we do a mammogram, we’re not preventing breast cancer, but rather are trying to detect it as early as possible. When we do a PSA blood test in men, we’re really not preventing prostate cancer, we’re just trying to find a cancer as early as possible. But with a colonoscopy, we are looking for colonic polyps, which are precancerous growths: in other words, polyps are not cancers yet, but will be 5 or 10 years down the road. This gives us a window where we can search for and detect the presence of a polyp and remove it before it has a chance to turn into a cancer. A colonoscopy is performed under sedation to minimize your pain or discomfort. The test itself only takes a few minutes and is comprised of introducing a tube with the approximate diameter of your pinky finger into the rectum. The tube has a camera on the end and the doctor monitors the progress of the test on a television screen. The tube is snaked throughout the entire length of the colon. If any polyps are encountered, the doctor is usually able to remove the polyp through the scope. The tissue is then sent off to the pathologist to examine it under a microscope to see if any cancer was present. The hardest part of the colonoscopy is preparing for it. Each specialist has a different preference for preparing the bowel for the procedure, but it usually consists of engaging in a diet of clear liquids for 24 hours leading up to the procedure. The night before, the patient must drink some laxatives to clean out the colon. A proper bowel preparation is essential so that the doctor can obtain an unobstructed view of the inner colon wall. Since you are sedated and the sedatives typically take several hours to wear off, you will need someone to drive you to the test and will probably need to take one day off of work. We start performing routine colonoscopy screening when you reach the age of 50. We recommend you repeat the colonoscopy every ten years, unless the doctor finds a polyp, in which case you would screen again more frequently. If you develop rectal bleeding or a significant change in your bowel habits, a colonoscopy would be indicated right away, even if you’re not yet 50. If you have a close family member who was diagnosed with colon cancer at a young age, you should start screening ten years before the age they were diagnosed… for instance, if your father was diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 42, you should start screening colonoscopies when you are 32. If you have a family history of a familial polyposis syndrome (a genetic disease that causes the patient to grow hundreds—sometimes THOUSANDS—of colon polyps), you should start screening colonoscopies in your early 20’s or even teens because these rare genetic diseases carry extremely high risk for colon cancer. Colonoscopies are not just used to screen for cancers… they are also useful in diagnosing many other common colon ailments like: Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, diverticulosis, angiodysplasia, hemorrhoids, among many other rare conditions. If you are over 50 and haven’t yet had your colonoscopy, I strongly urge you to make an appointment so that we can get 0ne scheduled for you. ------------- On a personal note, I’d like to thank all of you who have followed me to my new office and those new patients who have put their faith in me. I truly appreciate your loyalty and trust. For those of you who have not yet signed up, please check out the Patient Portal. Patients who have signed up for the service have given me positive feedback. You can try it out for free by signing in under a test patient (username and password are both: bbunny). To find the portal, please log on to www.parisfamilyphysicians.com and click on the icon to enter the portal. Thank you for reading the Newsletter and I look forward to continuing to serve the health needs of you and your family. Sincerely, Jeffrey Green, MD |