Home test measures colon cancer risks

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Nearly half the people who need potentially lifesaving checks for the nation’s second-highest cause of cancer deaths - colorectal cancer - miss them, despite years of public efforts to make colon screening as widespread as tests for breast and prostate cancer.

The dreaded colonoscopy may get the most attention but a cheap, at-home stool test works, too. That’s why select Florida Hospitals throughout Volusia and Flagler counties will offer limited amounts of these tests during Colon Cancer Awareness Month in March.

The colorectal risk assessment tests will be distributed at colon cancer seminars and during their Super Colon event to be held March 27-29 at the Volusia Mall. Guests will have the opportunity to explore the 20-foot long 8-foot high replica of a human colon. The tests will be distributed during the event and are intended for those in the age bracket who most need to begin the screening process – usually age 50 or earlier if there is a family history.

Each Friday in March, Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center will offer free colon cancer educational seminars . Topics include “The End of Colon Cancer,” “Cooking with Chef Chris: Fiber Made Fun!” and “Colonoscopy: It’s NOT as Bad As You Hear.” For more information or to RSVP for the seminars, please call 386-676-6284.

Everyone is supposed to get screened for colorectal cancer starting at age 50, but US data show just 55 percent do. That’s better than a decade ago when screening rates hovered below 30 percent, and new cases and deaths have dropped as a result.

But about 150,000 people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer each year, and nearly 50,000 die. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says screening could eliminate many new cases because regular colon checks can remove precancerous growths called polyps before the cancer has time to form.

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http://keepyourcolonhappy.com/

www.floridahospitalmemorial.org/