Originally published April 19 2005
Blacks should test for colon cancer earlier than other groups, experts say; report suggests 45 as ideal age
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A new report by the American College of Gastroenterology says black men should be tested for colon cancer at age 45, up to five years earlier than other groups. The report says blacks typically develop colon cancer earlier in life than whites, and more who get the disease die. Experts attribute the higher death rate to blacks having less access to health care � including colon screening.
Blacks should be screened for colorectal cancer beginning at age 45, five years earlier than other people, according to new guidelines issued by the American College of Gastroenterology.
The advice is in response to previous findings that blacks have earlier onset of the disease and higher incidence and mortality rates than whites.
Experts suspect that the increased mortality rates might be partly because of inadequate access to health care and lack of proper screening, which allows doctors to detect and remove polyps that could become cancerous.
The report containing the new guidelines, which appears in the March edition of the American Journal of Gastroenterology, says most blacks should undergo a colonoscopy every 10 years beginning at age 45.
A colonoscopy allows physicians to visually examine the entire colon and remove polyps that might turn cancerous.
For those considered to be at higher risk because of family history or previous polyps, testing may be recommended even earlier or more frequently.
What experts don't fully understand is why blacks have lower rates of screening for colorectal cancer and higher rates of diagnoses than other groups.
Like the colonoscopy, it uses a camera-tipped tube to view the colon, but it examines only the lower third of that organ, the portion on the left side of the body.
Research shows that blacks often develop cancer in the part of the colon that sits on the right side of the body, which a sigmoidoscopy would not detect.
"The concern is that we recommend screening (only) part of the colon," said Duane Smoot, chairman of the Department of Medicine at Howard University School of Medicine.
A less effective test than colonoscopy, this procedure does not require sedation, and doctors often recommend it in conjunction with a fecal occult blood test (see below) every five years.
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