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A research shows that you can see if you have colorectal cancer from your own home.
A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine revealed that self-screening kits to detect colon cancer are efficient if used once a year. The testing detects if you have blood in your stool. This method is chosen by more and more people, as a lot of them consider colonoscopy as too invasive and try to avoid it as much as they can.
The self-test is called fecal immunochemical test (FIT) and can detect the colorectal cancer very easily, at home. Unlike the colonoscopy, this test doesn’t require sedation or preparation for bowel cleansing. The advantage of the colonoscopy though is that it can remove the polyps if they are found.
The team of researchers from Kaiser Permanente Northern and Southern California analyzed data from more than 320,000 people who had ages between 50 and 70. The data was collected from a period of four years, during which the persons underwent colon cancer screenings.
There are two types of screenings that can help you detect the colon cancer, without being as invasive as the colonoscopies and these are FIT( fecal immunochemical test) and FOBT( fecal occult blood test). FIT is able to detect the amount of blood present in the stool. The blood is a sign that either large polyps are present, either the colorectal cancer is developing. FOBT does almost the exact same thing, except using another lab technique. According to the authors of the research, FIBT can diagnose better the colorectal cancer than the FOBT one.
The participants in the study were asked to do the screening tests and even though in the following years some people stopped doing them, 86% of them still did them every year. According to the researchers, a lot of people avoid colonoscopies because they make them feel uncomfortable and because they require a lot of preparation and also sedation. They say that people who know about these test that can be made at home are more likely to do them, than to go to their doctor and undergo a colonoscopy.
What is frustrating for a lot of experts is that many people could avoid easily cancer by simply doing a screening. The self-screening kits to detect colon cancer are efficient and they are easy to use. If you are over 50 or close to that age, then go and buy the FIBT test, as it is more accurate. It won’t take you long and it might save your life.
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