Professor Pádraic Mac Mathuna
Clinical Director, BowelScreen
Bowel screening aims to find signs of bowel cancer at an early stage, when there are no symptoms.
Bowel screening involves taking a sample of your poo (stool sample) using a home test. Place the sample in a special tube, and send it back in a sealed envelope for laboratory testing. This test looks for blood in your poo and most people get a normal result. If the amount of blood found in your poo is above the screening limit, you will be referred for a further test called a colonoscopy.
Who can get free bowel screening?
You are eligible if you are aged 59 to 69, live in Ireland and are on the BowelScreen register. To check that you are on the register and your details are current, contact 1800 45 45 55 (freephone) or [email protected].
Limitations of bowel screening
The bowel screening test looks for a certain level of blood in your stool. If the amount of blood is below the screening limit, or no blood is found in your sample, it is not a guarantee that you do not have bowel cancer. Not all cancers or polyps bleed all the time. No screening test is 100% reliable. Changes can also happen between screening tests.
If bowel cancer is found early,
it’s easier to treat and there’s
a better chance of recovery.
Facts on bowel cancer
Bowel cancer is also known as colon, rectal or colorectal cancer. Around 2,600 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer in Ireland every year. Bowel cancer is the second most common of all cancers in men and the third most common of all cancers in women in Ireland.
If bowel cancer is found early, it’s easier to treat and there’s a better chance of recovery. If you have any of the following symptoms, contact your GP and do not wait for your next screening test:
- Changes in your poo, diarrhoea or constipation that is unusual for you
- Needing to poo more or less often than usual
- Blood in your poo, which may look red or black
- Bleeding from your bottom
- Tummy pain
- Feeling a lump anywhere in your tummy
- Bloating
- Losing weight for no reason
- Feeling very tired for no reason
- Breathlessness
Choose screening and register for your free test today on hse.ie/conditions/bowel-screening/register
