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'Curious' About Colon Cancer Screenings

'Curious' About Colon Cancer ScreeningsWBZ

Jan in Abington is Curious: "Everyone keeps stressing that people get screened for colon cancer, but what happens to people whose insurance doesn't cover it or who have lost their health insurance?"

March is National Colon Cancer Awareness month and in Massachusetts, colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death. The potentially deadly cancer can be prevented with regular screenings.

Regular screenings can find polyps in the colon which can be taken out long before they turn cancerous.

So if you're 50 years and older, you should talk to someone about getting screened. Experts advise getting screenings at a younger age if there is a family history of colon cancer.

For many, access to healthcare is not easy either because you don't have a doctor or you don't have insurance.

But the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has a program for low-income men and women between the ages of 40 and 64.

They offer routine screenings for a whole host of conditions including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, breast and prostate cancer as well as colon cancer screenings.

Learn more at the Mass. DPH's Comprehensive Cancer Prevention and Control Program or call the DPH at 617-624-5070.

Also check out colorectal screenings information at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

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