When to Get a Colonoscopy

When you turn 50 years old, you enter the "procedure years".  Fifty is the magic age for getting a screening colonoscopy.  Why age 50?  Most gastrointestinal cancers are more prevalent as a person ages.  So guidelines are set to benefit the largest numbers of patients by recommending "screening" tests to detect cancer while it can still be removed completely and cured.  The key word here is