Should you have a dementia patient get a colonoscopy, just as routine exam?

All - thank you for answering. This supports what I was thinking.

ka24gardner - she did have a stool smear and it was normal (I won't even go into hard difficult it was to do that :-).

naheaton - I have heard of the scan of the intestines, but I think it is for a very specific purpose. I personally have to have a colonoscopy every 3 yrs and was told the scan would not work.

looney - I appreciate your perspective. I was just thinking about why go through all that for a routine test, not what we would do if the test were to find something. I'll have to consider that and talk it over with my brother.

Thanks again!

Hi, you need to ask yourself if your mother could undergo a surgery and a recovery time with her level of dementia. If she would not then what is the point if nothing can be done to correct anything a test would reveal. My mother is quite a bit older and mentally OK but physically she could never survive a surgery. She only has tests that would show a problem that can be corrected with medication. I'm sure its hard for you being your mom is young and probably still in good physical health. Just keep asking questions and with the knowledge you gain then you will be able to make a informed decision that will be best for your mom.

I thought there was a cat scan type of thing that also can tell if a person has polyps without having to go through a colonoscopy.
After having just the sigmoidoscopy a few years ago, I sure wouldn't want to do that again!

Has she had a stool smear? Perhaps the doctor should start with that first. My Mom is 88 and my question to her doctor was how long are you going to put her through this, she doesn't have a problem and has had several good colonoscopies over the years. My Mom's doctor agreed that if her stool smear was ok and there were no other problems in that area, we could discontinue them. I realize this isn't an answer to your particular question, but at least you realize you are not alone in thinking that the prep may be too much for some people. Good Luck!!