Screening Tests for Women Archive

Eliminating co-pays may convince more people to seek colorectal cancer screening. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurers can't always charge co-pays for certain preventive procedures. In a study in Clinical Gastroenterology and In 2009, the first year the ACA's co-pay limit went into effect, the percentage of people who underwent colonoscopy increased by 18%.

People often avoid colonoscopy because of the bowel-purging "prep" it requires. However, under the ACA anyone ages 50-75 can get colonoscopy paid for every 10 years. Although a preventive service may be fully covered, the visit to the doctor's office could still carry a co-pay.

Learn which breast cancer screening tests you need, and when to have them.

Considering that one out of every eight of us will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime, screening for this disease is among the most important tests we'll ever have. In recognition of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Harvard Women's Health Watch asked Dr. Pamela DiPiro, assistant professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School to help us make sense of breast cancer screening recommendations.

It's complicated but promising. Here's what genes can tell us today.

What if a simple blood test could reveal with certainty your genetic predisposition for developing a serious, inherited form of heart disease? Would you take the test?

Treatment is available if you test positive.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recommending that everyone born between 1945 and 1965—the so-called "baby boomer" generation—be tested for hepatitis C. The CDC reports that about two million American adults know they have hepatitis C, and 75% of them are baby boomers. Another 1.5 million baby boomers are likely infected, but aren't seeking treatment because they're unaware of their condition. That could be life threatening. "You have to understand that hepatitis C advances very silently. If it's discovered once the liver fails, then it's too late to save the liver. Screening is so easy," says Dr. Stanley Rosenberg, a gastroenterologist at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).

Q. I'm 76 and I have had three normal colonoscopies for routine colorectal cancer screening. Am I done now?

A. Recommendations for screening tests like colonoscopy usually state an age to start being screened, but when to stop is more of a gray area. Whether to continue screening depends on your overall health and how likely it is that you are still at risk for the disease. Remember, screening tests are performed to look for a problem years before it would likely appear. Colonoscopy, for example, detects the precancerous polyps that appear many years before the polyps turn into cancer.

Q. Lately, it seems like I have a harder time following people in conversation
because they seem to mumble so much. Should I get my hearing tested?

A. Hearing loss is very common as people get older. One in three men over age 65 has some degree of hearing loss. Bring it up with your doctor at your regular check-up. A detailed test is not recommended for people not already experiencing trouble with their hearing.

New treatments promise high cure rates with fewer side effects. But carefully consider the pros and cons of testing.

If you are a baby boomer born between 1945 and 1965, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) thinks you should be tested for infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Boomers are five times more likely than other adults to have HCV. The virus can reside silently in the liver for decades, where in a minority of people it may progress to fatal liver failure or cancer.

Use of diagnostic imaging has risen sharply since the 1990s, exposing some people to "high" or "very high" doses of radiation, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers studied records of diagnostic scans conducted from 1996 to 2010. Use of ultrasound grew by 4% annually. CT use grew by 8%, MRI by 10%, and PET by 57%.

Because CT and PET scans involve exposure to radiation, their increased use raises a potential safety issue. A CT scan of the chest delivers an amount of radiation equivalent to that of 200 chest x-rays. That means after just 10 chest CT scans, a person can reach his or her safe lifetime limit of radiation exposure, according to the American College
of Radiology.

Q. I have high blood pressure. Is it worth it to buy a blood pressure monitor to check my pressure at home?

A. Yes. Habitual home blood pressure checks give a more accurate view of your blood pressure than intermittent office-based readings or occasional checks at your drugstore. Home monitoring is particularly helpful for evaluating the effectiveness of lifestyle changes or medications aimed at lowering your blood pressure.

Learn which colorectal cancer tests you need, and how often you need them.

Harvard Women's Health Watch presents the first in our series of guides to help you make smarter choices about screening tests. This article will focus on colorectal cancer screening, with advice from Dr. Robert Mayer, the Stephen B. Kay Family professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.