Brookdale Hospital medical expert focused on getting more people signed up for colonoscopies
If you're 45, it's recommended to get your first colonoscopy because more younger people are getting diagnosed with colon cancer.
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Colon Cancer Awareness Month is a good time to get educated about your colon and provide information on how to get it checked out.
If you're 45, it's recommended to get your first colonoscopy because more younger people are getting diagnosed with colon cancer.
Arletta Estwic started getting the procedure regularly in her 40s and is now in her 70s, in part because the colonoscopy showed there were polyps that needed to be removed.
"I think you said pre-cancerous polyps? He tested them, sent them off and did what he done," said Estwic.
"She's invested in her care, which is what you want to be as a patient," said Estwic's doctor and director of Interventional Endoscopy at One Brooklyn Health, Dr. Derrick Cheung.
Cheung is also the program director of the Gastroenterology Fellowship Program at OBH. He's passionate about preventing colon cancer and expanded the gastrointestinal unit at OBH, bringing on three trainees this July.
This month, he's also focused on getting more people signed up for colonoscopies. Staff will be tabling to answer questions and sign up patients at the Brookdale campus for the next few days.
During the procedure, doctors will look for growths called polyps, and if they see them, they'll remove them and test them.
"Those patients with precancerous polyps will get watched a little closer because they could form new ones later on," said Cheung.
Doctors will recommend when to schedule your next colonoscopy, but it's typically every 10 years.
