Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on September 9, 2014

Dr. Mehmet Oz, left, and Dr. Michael Roizen (King Features Syndicate)

Q: I heard there is a DNA test for colon cancer. Can I cancel my colonoscopy? Please?! Stephen G., Colorado Springs, Colorado

A: Sit tight! The news about a fecal DNA test to spot hemoglobin and mutant DNA that might indicate the presence of colon cancer and adenomatous polyps (benign polyps that could turn cancerous) is great news, but it doesn't eliminate the need for colonoscopies. It may, however, tell you that you need one!

The DNA stool test is an exam for folks 50 and older who have an average risk of colon cancer. Its cost is covered by Medicare and Medicaid; they're recommending that it be done every three years. Compared with the fecal immunochemical test (FIT), the DNA test is around 93 percent sensitive to 65 variations of malignancies; FIT rates just 73 percent. Also, it specifically detects precancerous lesions 42 percent of the time, while FIT detects only 23 percent.

How you proceed with your regular screening for colon cancer depends on your risks and a discussion with your doctor. If you've already had a polyp found and removed during a colonoscopy, if anyone in your family has had colon cancer or adenomatous polyps, if you have irritable-bowel disease or genetic predispositions or if you are black or an Ashkenazi Jew, you may want to get the DNA stool test every year; you'll need to have a colonoscopy as frequently as your doctor recommends.

If you don't have extra risk factors for colon cancer, you still may want to do the DNA test regularly and have a colonoscopy every 10 years after a base-line scope at age 50 (45 for blacks). Also, talk to your doc about taking two low-dose aspirins a day if you don't take 'em already; they decrease the risk of colon cancer by over 35 percent.

So, don't postpone a recommended colonoscopy; it's a life-saver. A polyp removed never becomes cancerous, and colon cancer caught early has a very good prognosis.

Q: I have 27 vacation days piled up, and if I don't take them, they'll expire at the end of the year. I also can skip the time off and get paid for it. That seems smarter. What do you think? Susan B., New York

A: You're lucky to have paid vacation days; the U.S. is the only advanced country in the world that doesn't guarantee workers paid vacations. (Every country in the EU mandates at least four weeks off annually.) So if you have days off, take them! You'll be much happier and healthier, and a more productive employee. (One Cincinnati janitorial firm reduced its employee turnover rate from 360 percent to 60 percent and increased productivity by introducing a week's vacation.)

Unfortunately, many Americans are like you, Susan, and don't take vacations even when they're offered! American workers left an estimated 577,212,000 vacation days untaken in 2013! And if you do take time off, 67 percent of you are still in contact with your office. The 1950s had a vision of an automated future that gave you loads of free time. That future is here and what do you get from all that advanced technology? MORE TIME TO WORK MORE!

Read the original post:

New DNA colon cancer test holds hope; R&R rules!

Category: Ashkenazi
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