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Comment by simulate | Hacker News Reader

Annual home stool tests (FIT) mentioned in this article can be as effective as colonoscopies. My provider, Kaiser-Permanente mails a kit once a year and I mail it back so no appointment is necessary and it's a lot less invasive.

538 wrote a good piece about the advantages of FIT vs. colonoscopy: "You Could Skip Your Colonoscopy If You’re Willing To Collect Your Poop" https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/you-could-skip-your-col...

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I agree FIT kits are great especially to ease your mind if you're worried about colon cancer.

But the FIT kit can be difficult to use with two main problems. It's like bobbing for apples only much less fun. You can't urinate or it ruins the sample. I don't know about you guys but I find it almost impossible to avoid urinating when defecating.

And with that happy mental image have a nice day everyone! And remember to eat lots of fibre.

Still seems better than a colonoscopy experience if it's as effective a screen.

> I find it almost impossible to avoid urinating when defecating

Can't you just urinate first, flush, and then defecate?

Fishing out poop from the toilet? No. Buy latex gloves and poop in your hand like every self-respecting primate.

...then fling it right into that envelope!

The sample is not allowed to get wet at all.

OK, so urinate first into a toilet, then defecate into the container. The point is, it's pretty hard to urinate with an empty bladder.

The FIT kits I've received have tissue that you use to keep the stool out of the toilet and you can urinate around the tissue. Here's a somewhat graphic video that explains how to use it (this may be NSFW): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOhjxfkf4tw

What privacy agreements are in effect to protect your DNA from being sold? Asking because I know of a few labs that do something similar to this to research gut health, but the nurse friend said to use a fake name and throw away email address.

Update:

Here [1] is an example of why DNA should be shared with care, given that you can not easily change your DNA and it says a LOT about you and your family members.

[1] - https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/vbqyvx/myheritage...

Thank you for sharing. I tried to get something going at just under 30 years old and insurance wouldn't even consider it.

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