10 Questions You Need to Ask About Colonoscopy

From The NYTimes:

1. Why is effective bowel preparation important?
2. How can I maximize my chance of an effective bowel preparation?
3. Are there certain medications I should stop taking before colonoscopy?
4. Are all colonoscopists equally effective at finding polyps and cancers during colonoscopy?
5. How can I be sure that my colonoscopist will do a careful examination?
6. How can I reduce the risk of a complication during colonoscopy?
7. Should I try colonoscopy without sedation?
8. If I undergo sedation, should it be given by an anesthesiologist?
9. Do all colonoscopists follow the same rules to determine when my colonoscopy should be repeated?
10. Why aren’t the problems with the delivery of colonoscopy already solved?

Questions # 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 are very important, question # 10 probably not so much.


March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month: Get a Screening Colonoscopy if Appropriate for Your Age and History

References:

Cleveland Clinic Colorectal Cancer Risk Assessment Tool. Get your score in 2 minutes (free).
10 Questions You Need to Ask About Colonoscopy. NYTimes.
March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month: Get a Screening Colonoscopy if Appropriate for Your Age and History
Video: See What to Expect During a Colonoscopy.

Fear was the No. 1 reason people gave to explain why they hadn’t gone in for a colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer. NYTimes.

Get your colonoscopy in the morning - each hour brings a 4% reduction in the number of polyps the doctors spotted http://goo.gl/2FGQt
Colonoscopy Developer Dies at 94 - NYTimes http://goo.gl/iBnOp - Dr. Wolff was unconventional and surely made headlines in his day.
Colon cancer and colonoscopy - Cleveland Clinic YouTube playlist 
Image source: Colon (anatomy), Wikipedia, public domain.

Comments from Twitter:

Jackie Fox @jackiefox12: 11th question: Do I have to??