From the Desk of Dr. Cindy

By Dr. Cindy Ripsin, Boundless Medical Director

I’m a firm believer that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Some adults with significant developmental disabilities aren’t afforded the opportunity to participate in routine health screenings for things like colon cancer or breast cancer. Sometimes well-meaning guardians mistakenly think “Why put my loved one through that uncomfortable test?” But the truth is, the earlier cancer is identified the more we can do to help prevent really serious complications when cancer spreads to the rest of the body. Caught early, many cancers are very treatable and very painful consequences can be avoided.

Let’s look at colon cancer screening as an example.

Screening adults who have no immediate family history (brothers, sisters, mother, father) should begin at age 45 and continue until age 75. Screening for colon cancer has never been easier and can be done at home. There are two of these home tests currently available (Cologuard and FIT). Both are ordered by the primary care physician to be performed in the home and either brought back or mailed back to a laboratory. These tests are very good at identifying colon polyps and early colon cancer when done each year. When we catch colon cancer early, we can save lives. Just as importantly, we can prevent an early cancer from spreading to the rest of the body which can cause severe pain and other very serious complications in other essential organs like the liver, bones and lungs.

When an individual has a family member with colon cancer -- brother, sister, mother or father -- screening usually begins 10 years before the family member who has colon cancer first received their diagnosis. For example, if your brother was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 48, you should receive your first screening at age 38.

The best test in this case is a colonoscopy which is done every 3, 5 or 10 years, depending on what is found on the first test. Even though this test is uncomfortable, the discomfort of the test is far, far more comfortable than waiting until a cancer has spread to other parts of the body. In individuals who do not receive regular colon cancer screening and develop colon cancer, often the first sign of a problem is when the cancer grows so large it can suddenly block off all processing of food through the colon, and often requires emergency surgery. So, declining screening for colon cancer does not save individuals any pain or discomfort in the long run and potentially causes problems that could have been prevented.

For all our Boundless Health patients we create an individualized plan to perform timely health screenings with the goal of maintaining the highest possible quality of life.

Yours in good health.