Your child's health includes physical, mental and social well-being. Most parents know the basics of keeping children healthy, like offering them healthy foods, making sure they get enough sleep and exercise and ensuring their safety.

It is also important for children to get regular checkups with their health care provider. These visits are a chance to check your child's development. They are also a good time to catch or prevent problems.

Other than checkups, school-age children should be seen for:

• Significant weight gain or loss
• Sleep problems or change in behavior
• Fever higher than 102
• Rashes or skin infections
• Frequent sore throats
• Breathing problems

We all want high-quality health care, but it's hard to know how to choose. There are many things to consider, including:

• What your insurance covers
• Whether a health care provider or service is accredited
• The location of a service
• Hours that the service is available
• Whether you like a health care provider's personality

On this page you'll find information to help you choose a health care provider or service.

Colorectal cancer is cancer that develops in the tissues of the colon or rectum. Your colon and rectum are part of your digestive system:

• Your colon is the first and longest part of your large intestine. It absorbs water and some nutrients from foods. It also changes the leftover waste products into stool (poop).
• Your rectum is the lower part of your large intestine. It's where your body stores stool.

Cancer that begins in the colon is called colon cancer, and cancer that begins in the rectum is called rectal cancer. Cancer that affects either of these parts may also be called colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer happens when there are changes in your genetic material (DNA). These changes are also called mutations or variants. Often, the genetic changes that lead to colorectal cancer happen during your lifetime and the exact cause is unknown. But certain genetic changes that raise your risk for colorectal cancer are inherited, meaning that you are born with them.

Besides genetics, other factors, including your lifestyle and the environment, can affect your risk of colorectal cancer.

Anyone can get colorectal cancer, but certain factors make you more likely to develop it:

• Being older; your risk of getting colorectal cancer increases as you age.
• Having a personal or family history of colorectal cancer.
• Having a history of adenomas. Adenomas are colorectal polyps (growths) that look abnormal under a microscope or are 1 centimeter or larger. Adenomas are not cancer, but they can sometimes turn into cancer over time.
• Having a genetic syndrome such as familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) or Lynch syndrome (hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer).
• Having chronic ulcerative colitis or Crohn disease for 8 years or more.
• Having three or more alcoholic drinks per day.
• Smoking cigarettes.
• Being Black; Black people have an increased risk of colorectal cancer and death from colorectal cancer compared to other races.
• Having obesity.

Colorectal cancer may not always cause symptoms, especially at first. If you do have symptoms, they could include:

• A change in bowel habits that lasts more than a few days, such as:
  • Diarrhea
  • Constipation
  • Feeling that the bowel does not empty completely
  • Your stool is narrower or has a different shape than usual
• Blood (either bright red or very dark) in the stool
• Frequent gas pains, bloating, fullness, or cramps
• Weight loss for no known reason
• Fatigue

Because colorectal cancer may not cause symptoms at first, it's important to have screening tests for colorectal cancer. Screening tests look for signs of a disease before you have any symptoms. They can help find cancer early, when it may be easier to treat.

Most experts recommend that start screenings at 45 and continue until at least age 75. People over 75 and those who are at high risk should talk to their providers about how often you need screening and what type of test they should get.

The types of tests include different stool tests and procedures such as colonoscopies and flexible sigmoidoscopy. Talk with your provider about how often you need screening and what type of test you should get.

If you have symptoms that could be caused by colorectal cancer or if your screening test results are abnormal, you may need to have more tests to find out if you have cancer. Possible tests include:

• A physical exam.
• A digital rectal exam. For this exam, your provider inserts a lubricated, gloved finger into your rectum to feel for lumps or anything unusual.
• The tests that are also used for screening (colonoscopy, stool tests, etc.) and biopsy, if you have not already had them.
• Other blood and tissue tests.

Your treatment options usually depend on your age, your general health, how serious the cancer is, and which type of cancer you have.

For colon cancer, your treatment may include one or more of these options:

• Surgery.
• Radiofrequency ablation, a procedure that uses radio waves to heat and destroy abnormal cells. The radio waves travel through electrodes (small devices that carry electricity).
• Cryosurgery, a procedure in which an extremely cold liquid or an instrument called a cryoprobe is used to freeze and destroy abnormal tissue.
• Chemotherapy.
• Radiation therapy.
• Targeted therapy, which uses drugs or other substances that mainly attack specific cancer cells and cause less harm to normal cells.
• Immunotherapy.

For rectal cancer, your treatment may include one or more of these options:

• Surgery.
• Radiation therapy.
• Chemotherapy.
• Active surveillance, which means having regular tests to see if your rectal cancer has changed. If the tests show the cancer is starting to grow, then you will have treatment to try to cure the cancer.
• Targeted therapy, which uses drugs or other substances that mainly attack specific cancer cells and cause less harm to normal cells.
• Immunotherapy.

Avoiding the risk factors that you have control over may help prevent some cancers. That includes:

• Not smoking
• Limiting alcohol to under three drinks per day
• Managing your weight

There are also other steps you can take to try to prevent colorectal cancer. They include:

• Getting regular colorectal cancer screenings
• Having polyps removed before they can become cancerous
• Getting regular exercise

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare, degenerative brain disorder. Symptoms usually start around age 60. Memory problems, behavior changes, vision problems, and poor muscle coordination progress quickly to dementia, coma, and death. Most patients die within a year.

The three main categories of CJD are :

• Sporadic CJD, which occurs for no known reason
• Hereditary CJD, which runs in families
• Acquired CJD, which occurs from contact with infected tissue, usually during a medical procedure

Cattle can get a disease related to CJD called bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or "mad cow disease." There is concern that people can get a variant of CJD from eating beef from an infected animal, but there is no direct proof to support this.

NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Computed tomography (CT) is a type of medical imaging test that uses special x-ray equipment to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body.

A CT scan produces cross-sectional pictures, which are like slices of the body. These images show the size and structure of organs, bones, and other tissues. CT images can also be combined to create 3-dimensional (3D) views.

Health care providers use CT scans to diagnose, treat, and monitor many health conditions.

Your provider may suggest a CT scan for many reasons, including:

• Fractures (broken bones)
• Cancer
• Tumors or masses
• Blood clots
• Signs of heart disease
• Spinal conditions
• Lung disease

CT scans may also be used to find the best place to perform a biopsy or help guide certain treatments. They may also be used to check for internal bleeding or injury after trauma or to evaluate the brain for certain conditions.

You may be asked not to eat or drink for a few hours before the scan. Ask your provider if there are any special instructions to follow.

For some CT scans, you may receive a contrast material. Contrast helps certain parts of the body show up more clearly on the images. Depending on what area is being examined, contrast material might be given as:

• A liquid to swallow
• A shot (injection)
• An enema (placed into the rectum)

CT scans use ionizing radiation at levels higher than a standard x-ray, but the amount is kept as low as possible. Always tell your provider if you are pregnant or think you may be pregnant.

You may be asked to change clothes and remove jewelry or other items that could interfere with the scan.

During the scan, you lie still on a table. The table slowly passes through the center of a large donut-shaped machine. The x-ray tube rotates around your body to create images.

You may hear whirring sounds during the scan. You may be asked to hold your breath for short periods. The test is painless.

The scan usually takes a few minutes, but some may last up to 30 minutes, depending on the area being scanned.

Most people can return to normal activities right away. If you were given a contrast material, drinking fluids can help your body clear it.

A specialist called a radiologist reviews the images and shares the results with your provider.

NIH: National Cancer Institute