Editor’s Note: Every Wednesday, Breaking Bronx features a health-related story, event or tidbit as part of an online expansion of our Be Healthy! column.

Over the last decade, New York City’s colonoscopy rate has gone up by 62 percent, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene announced last week, the highest number since 2003, when the city first started tracking the data.

Colonoscopy is a test that examines the interior of the large intestine, which allows doctors to look for abnormal or precancerous growths,  making the procedure an important tool in catching colon cancer early. It is commonly recommended for adults over 50, or people who belong to other high-risk groups.

“Colonoscopy screening saves lives,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley. Colorectal cancer is the second deadliest cancer and kills approximately 1,400 New Yorkers each year, according to the Health Department. But when found at an early stage, the disease is 90 percent curable.

“Colon cancer is preventable, treatable and beatable,” said Alan D. Aviles, president of the Health and Hospitals Corporation.

The jump in the number of New Yorkers getting screened is likely due to a citywide push to increase education and access to screenings over the last several years, particularly among ethnic minorities. In 2003, city officials said, the colonoscopy rates of Asian, African-American and Hispanic New Yorkers were all at least 10 percent less than white New Yorkers; now, the rates among all groups are statistically the same. In the last five years alone, doctors at city-operated hospitals have performed more than 105,000 colonoscopies and removed pre-cancerous polyps from more than 22,000 patients, according to the Health Dept.

The city plans to increase efforts to raise screening rates in the city’s Russia-speaking community, where fewer residents are getting checked than compared to other groups.

The Health Dept. recommends that adults start getting screened beginning at age 50. Younger residents who fall into several high-risk groups should also talk to their physicians about getting checked. This includes smokers, people with a family history of colon or other cancers, those who have been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease, and people of African-American or Eastern European Jewish ancestry. Staying fit and eating a well-balanced diet will also reduce your risk for colon cancer.

For more tips, visit the DOHMH website here. The city offers free or low-cost screenings at several locations; call 311 to find one near you.

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