Further precautions or preventive measures

The most important form of colorectal cancer screening is a targeted adaptation of the individual lifestyle. Too little exercise, severe overweight, high-fat food and the consumption of alcohol and/or nicotine are among the most important risk factors for the development of intestinal cancer. For this reason, a change in diet can already make a major contribution to bowel cancer prevention.

Patients who, for example for family reasons, already have a history of colon cancer should avoid frequent consumption of high-fat foods. A balanced diet with a lot of fibre and sufficient fruit and vegetables can significantly reduce the risk of bowel cancer. In addition, short sports sessions should be taken at least 3 days a week. Often short walks in the evening help to effectively prevent bowel cancer. The consumption of nicotine and alcohol should also be restricted or stopped completely.

How useful is colorectal cancer screening?

Colorectal cancer screening, like most screening tests, may appear unnecessary. Although the probability of developing colorectal cancer is low, early detection is extremely important. In cancer treatment, early detection of cancer is the most important prognostic factor.

With the help of colonoscopy, polyps and precursors of colorectal cancer can be detected and removed at an early stage, which may soon cause the malignant disease. At this stage, the cells have not yet spread throughout the body and the changes have not yet caused any damage in the intestine either. Therefore, colorectal cancer screening is a very important diagnostic criterion and increases the chances of a cure and timely treatment of the cancer in case of illness. Colon cancer screening is particularly intensive and well investigated, as it is one of the most common cancers in adults.

How safe is a quick test?

Nowadays, research is being conducted on many rapid test methods and simple colon cancer screening methods. In everyday medical life, however, the hemoccult test, the stool test, still exists as a simple test method for early detection of bleeding that may be caused by colon cancer. However, the safety of the test is limited.

Bleeding rarely occurs in the early stages and the test cannot provide a reliable diagnosis even in the case of existing tumours. On the other hand, in many cases the test can also show false positive results even though no tumour or bleeding has occurred in the bowel. The safety of the rapid test is therefore severely limited, but it can still be used to confirm an important suspected diagnosis by means of a simple procedure.

At what age should I start going to the preventive care?

The retirement age varies with the individual risk or on the basis of previous indications and changes. However, there are certain age limits for an adult person who is not affected, above which a health surveillance protocol is advisable from a medical point of view. Since, according to studies, the risk of illness increases more strongly after the age of 50, the first preventive examinations at this age are also recommended.

The haemoccult stool examination, as well as the digital-rectal palpation examination are recommended annually from the age of 50. From the age of 55, colonoscopy is also medically advisable as a preventive measure. As this is a more complex procedure and changes such as polyps grow only slowly, it is performed prophylactically about every 10 years.

In the case of abnormal stool examinations or previously diagnosed abnormalities of the bowel, a colonoscopy should be performed more often, for example every 2 years. In special risk cases, a colonoscopy can be performed up to every 2 months, depending on the individual decision. People who are affected by a case of colon cancer in the 1st degree family are also recommended to have their first colonoscopy at the age of 45 at the latest.