Having a colonoscopy might be pretty low on Latino adults’ to-do
lists. Even hearing the term “colonoscopy” might make some
people a bit squeamish. But it can also save your life. Just
take it from Armida Flores, a promotora—a trained community
health worker—at the Institute for Health Promotion Research
(IHPR) at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. Flores
spends her days helping Latinos confront cancers and illness.
She knows first-hand that Latinos don’t get colon cancer
screening enough. In fact, a new study found that only 28
percent of U.S. Latinos have had colon cancer screening,
compared to 36 percent of African-Americans and 44 percent of
whites. Because of these things, she began to worry about her
own health and decided to schedule a colonoscopy, which can help
identify colon cancer. “I was a little bit nervous about it but,
to my surprise, the procedure was not too bad,” Flores said. “I
was asleep, so I did not feel any pain or discomfort.” After
explaining the procedure using simple medic