Is there a real alternative to a colonoscopy? If you are not too happy about having your posterior probed – and I do not know anyone who would be pleased with this procedure – there is a pretty good colonoscopy alternative, it is called the fecal immunochemical test.

According to Kaiser Permanente scientists, the fecal immunochemical test is nearly as accurate as a colonoscopy. After studying 5,800 medical records, they found that the fecal immunochemical test (FIT) was 20 percent better at finding cancerous polyps than a similar type of stool analysis, and almost as accurate as being scoped.

“The incremental benefit of colonoscopy over FIT is less than 1 percent, assuming all the important polyps and cancers are found,” says investigator James Allison, M.D. If you opt for the FIT, make it an annual or biannual habit once you turn 50 – unless the cancer runs in your family. If it does, book a colonoscopy at 40. [source: Men’s Health]