What Celebrating Your 50s Should Look Like

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It's the beginning of a whole new exciting chapter!

Fifty is a milestone, but it's also a great time to start celebrating all the adventures ahead. Being 50 today doesn't look like it used to - we're active, healthy, engaged, and energized for another 50 years!

Ahead of the Curve

At 50, staying healthy means being proactive about your health. It's especially important now to stay active, make daily exercise a part of your regular routine, eat a diet full of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, don’t smoke and limit your intake of saturated fats and sugar.¹

One critical way you can stay ahead of the curve is to make preventive health measures a priority. Cancer screening is particularly important. Of cancers that affect both men and women, colon^* cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States.² The leading national health guidelines recommend you begin colon cancer screening at age 50, when your risk for the disease increases.³ But the good news is that it's highly treatable, with a 90% survival rate^† if caught in the early stages.⁴

You're in Control

You made some really great decisions in life so far - maybe you’ve raised a family, you volunteer in your community or have started your own business. Here’s another important decision you need to make: take control of your health through simple steps like getting screened for colon cancer. Talk to your doctor about screening options, including an accurate, noninvasive stool DNA colon cancer screening option you can use at home. Cologuard is the only stool DNA test approved by the FDA for people 50 years and older who are at average risk for colorectal cancer. It can be used in the privacy of your home, requires no prep or disruption of your routine and identifies changes in DNA associated with colon cancer.⁵ It is covered by Medicare and Medicare Advantage with no co-pay or deductible for eligible patients, and more than 85% of all patients who use this option have no out-of-pocket cost for screening.^‡

Make it a Decade to Remember

It’s never too late to try new things; in fact, turning 50 is an ideal time to start. If you haven’t yet taken a proactive approach to your health, make today the day. Don’t put off getting screened for colon cancer at the recommended age of 50^§ because you’re avoiding colonoscopy. Instead, if you are healthy and don’t have any known risk factors for colon cancer, give yourself and your loved ones the gift of health by screening for colon cancer with a noninvasive and highly effective option. You have many active decades ahead!

See how effective and easy a noninvasive screening option you can use at home can be.

About Cologuard

Cologuard is intended for the qualitative detection of colorectal neoplasia associated DNA markers and for the presence of occult hemoglobin in human stool. A positive result may indicate the presence of colorectal cancer (CRC) or advanced adenoma (AA) and should be followed by diagnostic colonoscopy.

Cologuard is indicated to screen adults of either sex, 50 years or older, who are at typical average-risk for CRC. Cologuard is not for everyone; not for high risk individuals, including those with a family history of colorectal cancer, a personal history of colorectal cancer or advanced adenoma, IBD and certain hereditary syndromes. Positive Cologuard results should be referred to diagnostic colonoscopy. A negative Cologuard test result does not guarantee absence of cancer or advanced adenoma. Following a negative result, patients should continue participating in a screening program at an interval and with a method appropriate for the individual patient. Cologuard performance when used for repeat testing has not been evaluated or established. Rx only.    

Also of Interest

• Is colon cancer screening really that important?

^* When the term colon cancer is used in this article, it is intended to encompass colorectal cancer - which includes both colon and rectal cancer.
^† 5-year survival rate
^‡ Rate of coverage varies by state and region. Coverage rate only applies to Cologuard screening population. Based on the Affordable Care Act, colon cancer screening should be covered by most private insurers with no co-pay or deductible for eligible patients (ages 50-75; at average risk for colon cancer; without symptoms). Some exceptions may apply, so it is recommended that patients call their insurer to confirm.
^§ 50 is the recommended age for colon cancer screening for those at average risk according to the United States Preventive Services Task Force 

Sources

¹ Li Y, Pan An, Wang D, et al. Impact of healthy lifestyle factors on life expectancies in the US population. Circulation. 2018; 13:345-355.

² American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2018 (PDF). Last revised January 4, 2018. Accessed July 24, 2018.

³ Bibbins-Domingo K, Grossman DC, Curry SJ, et al; for US Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for colorectal cancer: US Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement. JAMA. 2016; 315(23): 2564-2575.

⁴ SEER Cancer Stat Facts: Colorectal Cancer. National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD

⁵ Imperiale TF, Ransohoff DF, Itzkowitz, et al. Multitarget stool DNA testing for colorectal-cancer screening. N Engl J Med. 2014;370(14):1287-1297.