Bowel Health
There are a number of reasons why both men and women may have traces of blood in their faeces, such as haemorrhoids, polyps and, in rare cases, bowel cancer.
It is therefore essential to test yourself regularly to ensure your risk level is kept to a minimum.
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All of these conditions can be treated more effectively and efficiently if medical advice and intervention begins as early as possible. Bowel cancer remains the third highest cause of cancer in men and women and, given the UK's ageing population, this is unlikely to change.
Bowel health screening and other related medical conditions are not easily discussed and can be embarrassing or awkward. Therefore, a simple and hygienic home screening test that can detect abnormal blood in faeces can provide men and women with help and the incentive needed to seek medical advice and help.
The benefit of carrying out a Bowel Health home test in privacy ensures confidentiality as well as providing the necessary incentive needed to take further steps in terms of managing personal health and earlier consultation with a healthcare professional, which will facilitate earlier medical intervention should further action be needed.
The Bowel Health test is easy to use and uses the faecal immunochemical principle (FIT), requiring only a small sample of faeces to perform the test, giving an easy to read visual result in less than 10 minutes. As the test uses the FIT detection method, no change in diet or fasting is required prior to test.
The Bowel Health Test is currently more sensitive (30µg/g) than most NHS FIT screening tests (80 to 150µg/g)
Please note it is not a diagnostic test and in the event of a positive result our team will refer you to your GP for further investigation.
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There are different results you can get after the FIT. These include:
Blood in your poo
You will need further tests if there is blood found in your poo. Your doctor might call this FIT positive.
This doesn’t mean that you have cancer. Blood in your poo can be caused by cancer or by other medical conditions.
You usually have a test to look at the inside of your large bowel. This is called a colonoscopy.
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No blood in your poo
This means that no blood was found in your poo. Your doctor might call this FIT negative.
For most people this means that they don’t have cancer. But a normal FIT result doesn't completely rule out cancer. Some people can have cancer and a normal FIT result.
It’s important to go back to your GP if your symptoms continue, change, or get worse even if you have normal test results. Some people will need to have further tests.
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Nb. This test can be conducted on its own or bolted on to any of our standard assessments.
