Screening is a way of finding out if people have a higher chance of having a health problem, so that early treatment can be offered or information given to help them make informed decisions.
What is screening?
Screening is a way of identifying apparently healthy people who may have an increased risk of a particular condition. The NHS offers a range of screening tests to different sections of the population.
The aim is to offer screening to the people who are most likely to benefit from it. For example, some screening tests are only offered to newborn babies, while others such as breast screening and abdominal aortic aneurysm screening are only offered to older people.
Bowel Cancer Screening
Bowel cancer screening can save lives!
Screening aims to detect bowel cancer at an early stage, when treatment has the best chance of working; the test can also find polyps (non-cancerous growths), which might develop into cancer.
Polyps can usually be removed, to lower the risk of bowel cancer.
Breast Screening
Breast screening aims to find breast cancer at an early stage, often before there are any symptoms.
To do this, an x-ray is taken of each breast (mammogram); early detection may often mean simpler and more successful treatment.
Screening results
If you get a normal result (a screen negative result) after a screening test, this means you are at low risk of having the condition you were screened for. This does not mean you will never develop the condition in the future, just that you are low risk at the moment.
If you have a higher-risk result (a screen positive result), it means you may have the condition that you’ve been tested for. At this point, you will be offered further tests (called diagnostic tests) to confirm if you have the condition. You can then be offered treatment, advice and support.
Finding out about a problem early can mean that treatment is more effective. However, screening tests are not perfect and they can lead to difficult decisions about having further tests or treatment.
Read more about NHS screening, including the benefits, risks and limitations of screening. – https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/nhs-screening/
You can also watch animations about NHS screening: