The deaths from this disease don’t necessarily have to happen. Early screening, detection and treatment can head off a lot of major problems, particularly for those people aged 50 and older. The detection of adenomatous polyps is the key. While most will not develop into cancer, removing them can prevent the possibility of cancer in the area.

These are usually found through a procedure known as a colonoscopy. This is a method where a doctor inserts a long tube into the rectum while the patient is sedated. The camera is manipulated further into the colon to find polyps and remove them if discovered.

But many people who might benefit from the early screening and detection don’t bother to have the test. The reasons are a combination of fear, ignorance and wishful thinking. Because a colonoscopy involves several doctor visits, sometimes unpleasant preparation involving drinking a lot of fluids, and then a hospital procedure, it’s just one of those things where it’s easier to kick the can down the road, saving the tests for some imagined “someday” that may never come.

There Are Other Ways

Those who suffer from colonoscopy fears can be helped. There are alternatives to a full-on colonoscopy. While the colonoscopy procedure remains the best and most complete test for the disease, there are other ways to measure what’s going on in this sensitive region.

There are three tests that can be performed at home by the patient. All involve collecting stool samples and smearing the results on a special sampling card, then getting the results to a laboratory for analysis.