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Colonoscopy Screening: Age & Qualifications

Colonoscopy Screening: Age & Qualifications

December 28, 2021
Ray Scott Daugherty, MD
Ray Scott Daugherty, MD

Colon and Rectal Surgery

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Transcript

Recently, the American Cancer Society actually dropped the age for screening colonoscopies from 50 to 45. So we now recommend that all patients have some sort of screening, especially a colonoscopy, by the age of 45.

 

Now that would change if you have a family history of colon or rectal cancer, especially in a primary family member. At that point, we would recommend a colonoscopy 10 years prior to their diagnosis of cancer. So say you had a father that was diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 50, we would recommend that you have a colonoscopy at the age of 40.

 

Key Takeaways

1. Recently the American Cancer Society dropped the age for screening colonoscopies from 50 to 45.

2. That would change if you have a family history of colon or rectal cancer, especially in a primary family member.

3. At that point, we would recommend a colonoscopy 10 years before their diagnosis of cancer.