April is bowel cancer awareness month

Did you know that bowel screening is the only screening programme where the test is done at home?

The Scottish Bowel Screening Programme invites those aged 50 to 74 to be screened every two years. Participants are sent a test kit to their home. They then return a poo sample to the bowel screening laboratory in a pre-paid envelope. Those with a positive test result are referred to their health board for follow-up, with the majority being offered a colonoscopy. A colonoscopy can confirm if any cancer is present.

If you are in the right age group, it’s important to make sure you do your bowel screening test correctly. Instructions are included in the kit. More information and a ‘how to’ video can be found at
www.nhsinform.scot/bowelscreening

#BowelScreeningScotland

Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer and the second most common cause of death due to cancer in Scotland. It is usually diagnosed after patients develop symptoms, such as a persistent change in bowel habit, blood in poo or abdominal pain.

The purpose of bowel screening is to find bowel cancer at an earlier stage, before symptoms occur. This is when treatment is likely to be more effective.