Health Magazine | Screenings not to be missed after 50 years

"The goal is to diagnose a disease, including early-stage cancer, before it is symptomatic," says Dr. Mathieu Laramas. And thus avoid that the diagnosis occurs at an advanced stage, metastatic extension, in other organs than the original organ. Because this stage of cancer is often complicated to treat. The goal of oncology screening in general is to screen for diseases early to treat them before they are harder to treat. Among the three screenings are systematic and organized by the state: colorectal cancers, bad and cervix.

Systematic screenings

– " For bad cancer, the recommendations of the National Cancer Institute, is to perform screening of 50 to 74 years, every 2 years, details Dr. Mathieu Laramas. The health insurance sends an inviting letter to the screening which is free. It consists of a mammogram, and thus a bad x-ray, in a radiology center. The radio will be examined by two radiologists. Sometimes it is coupled with an ultrasound. This systematic screening only concerns women. France has about 60,000 new cases of cancer per year in women and 400 to 500 in men.

– Another systematic screening which concerns only women, that of Cervical cancer. "This screening must be continued until age 65, every 3 years. It is a smear, painless and safe examination to be performed in a gynecologist, a trained general practitioner or a midwife from the age of 25, "says Dr. Mathieu Laramas.

– Finally, the screening of colorectal cancer should be performed by women and men aged 50 to 74, every 2 years. "It's an immunological test that involves dipping a stick into fresh stools," he says. Then you have to send it to a lab that will badyze whether they contain blood or not. Because a polyp can bleed. If the test is positive, then we propose to do a colonoscopy. This is an examination using a miniature camera introduced into the colon by the natural way. In a family at risk (with family members with colon cancer), colonoscopy should be done every 5 years.

Cancer screenings when you are "at risk"

Other screenings are not organized in a systematic way. They must be made by people with a family history.

– Screenings of skin cancer, melanomas, are to be performed in a dermatologist. Are concerned people with skin at risk, very clear. It should also be consulted if there is a dark brown or black spot on the skin, if a mole changes color, size or shape.

– Screening lung cancer by means of a scanner is not systematic. It must be done by "heavy smokers".

– "Screening of Prostate cancer is extremely debated, says the doctor. It consists, in men, in a rectal examination and a dosage of PSA in the blood. If it is too high, there may be cancer cells. Some cancers need to be treated early, but others are latent diseases that will not lead to dangerous cancers. When a man dies at an advanced age, for example from a cardiac arrest, 7 to 8 times we discover that he had this cancer. It is very common in humans. Screening sometimes reveals benign cancer while the treatment is not insignificant. If you are diagnosed with cancer at age 75, it is not necessarily serious. At 45, it's more annoying.

Other screenings based on antecedents

The other screenings are individual, to discuss with his general practitioner according to his way of life and his antecedents, but also family antecedents. Are there people with diabetes, high blood pressure or cardiovascular problems in the family? It may be necessary to control weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose.

View and hearing

From the age of 45, it is necessary to carry out glaucoma screening, a disease of the eye responsible for lesions of the optic nerve which leads to a progressive loss of vision. Moreover, when vision problems appear (vision loss, deformation of straight lines, appearance of a spot in front of the eye, etc.), age-related macular degeneration must also be detected. an ophthalmologist. After 55 years, you also have to control your hearing.

osteoporosis

Finally, women, in particular, have to screen osteoporosis, defined by the Health Insurance as the "diffuse disease of the skeleton characterized by a decrease in bone density and alterations of the micro-architecture of the bones". It is necessary to carry out a bone densitometry which pbades notably by a radiographic examination.