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by Jay Maddock, Texas A&M University
When the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve to mark the beginning of 2023, I came to grips with the fact that I would turn 50 years old this year.
Entering a new decade is often a time to pause and reflect on our lives, particularly when reaching middle age. For 50-year-old American men, the average remaining life expectancy is 28 more years; for women, it’s 32.
Turning 50 can be the time of your life – but it also means adapting to new challenges.
As a public health professor who is an expert in health promotion, I started to think about things one could do around this milestone birthday to improve the chances of living a healthy life for decades to come.
After reviewing the literature on healthy aging, I identified four things in particular that take on greater importance when you turn 50 – and that go beyond general health advice that’s beneficial at any age, like staying active, eating well and getting enough sleep.
Get a colonoscopy
Urging everyone to get a colonoscopy is certainly not the most fun piece of advice, but it’s one of the most important. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be more than 105,000 new cases of colon cancer, more than 45,000 new cases of rectal cancer and over 50,000 deaths from colorectal cancer in 2023 alone.
This makes colorectal cancer the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths for men and women.
The good news is that the survival rate is high if the cancer is detected early, before it spreads to other parts of the body. The survival rate drops precipitously if cancer is found in the later stages.
A colonoscopy is a routine inpatient procedure that uses a scope to examine the rectum and colon and that requires sedation or anesthesia.
In addition to detecting cancerous or potentially malignant polyps, your doctor can also detect swollen tissue and ulcers. These…
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