Centers of Excellence + Center for Digestive Health + St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center

Colonoscopy

Colorectal cancer is one of the most curable types of cancer, but the key is early detection. A colonoscopy is a test in which the entire colon is checked by using a lighted flexible tube with a camera-like device at one end. Polyps, which are small growths attached to the inner wall of the intestine and can be cancerous, can be removed during a colonoscopy.

About 150,000 new cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed in the US each year. About one person in 20 will develop colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of death in the nation. Treatment results in a 90 percent success rate when the disease is detected in its early stages.

Almost half of all Americans ages 60-80 suffer from diverticulosis, and almost everyone over age 80 has the disorder. Diverticulosis is characterized by small pouches that bulge through weak spots in the colon. When these pouches become infected or inflamed, which occurs up to 25 percent of the time, the condition is called diverticulitis.

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