It is no secret that the Czech Republic has the world's highest colon-cancer rates per capita: Every year 7,500 new patients are diagnosed, and every day 16 people die from it.

Anyone who has sampled traditional Czech food will be tempted to jump to conclusions and say "no wonder." On average, Czechs consume excessive amounts of animal fats and cured meats and prefer their vegetables pickled, if not fried. Cholesterol is a friend; fiber a foe.

Scientists, however, estimate that only about half of colon-cancer rates are linked to lifestyle and patients usually develop it later in life. The rest of cases may be purely genetic, and the cause is still unknown. Although poor diet certainly doesn't help, it appears that the gene pool of my countrymen may be partly to blame.

One aspect doctors agree on is that regular colonoscopies after the age of 40 dramatically increase survival rates. If doctors discover colon polyps before they turn cancerous or at least in the early stages of cancer, before they metastasize, it sharply decreases the premature mortality of patients.

Colonoscopies in the Czech Republic, however, are usually performed only when patients already show symptoms of colon cancer (indigestion, abdominal pain, anemia, etc.), not as a form of prevention. Since colon cancer often strikes without symptoms, taking preventive measures, especially for people with family histories of cancer, is essential.

I was diagnosed with colon cancer — completely asymptomatic — in October 2006 at the age of 29. For the record, my diet has consisted mainly of fruits and vegetables and other fiber-rich foods. I have always been thin and athletic and barely eat any meat. I don't smoke. Needless to say, the diagnosis was a shock.

Maybe it should not have been so surprising. My mother was diagnosed with the same disease at the age of 40. My grandmother and great-grandmother both died from it. None of them was overweight. They were all too poor to eat foods rich in animal fat. Still, it seemed that I was too young and healthy to get caught.

Although I generally think highly of Czech doctors (that is, after all, why I decided to undergo surgery and chemo here, rather than in the United States), the healthcare system here severely underutilizes prevention. My Czech doctors never asked me about a family history of disease, let alone suggested I needed to start going for checkups 10-15 years earlier than the age at which my mother tested positive. It never really dawned on me that this disease can affect people younger than 30.

I was diagnosed in New York during one of my regular trips there. I went to see a doctor because my stomach was upset for several days after I took an aspirin for a headache. She thought I might have a stomach ulcer but an endoscopy showed that I didn't. My blood test, however, revealed I was anemic.

The doctor suggested a colonoscopy only because she wisely linked my family history together with the anemia. Iron-deficiency anemia, or a shortage of red blood cells, often occurs as a result of internal chronic bleeding. The body essentially "feeds the tumor" with blood.

It seemed a bit of a stretch at the time, since I only had a minor stomachache, but I will be grateful for the doctor's holistic approach for the rest of my life. I am certain that, given my age and overall health, a lot of doctors would have given me acid reducers for the stomach, suggested I take iron pills for the anemia and sent me home until I could come back with "real issues."

For obvious reasons, I was nervous about having a colonoscopy. Getting a long object shoved where the sun doesn't shine is hardly anyone's idea of fun. I found that not only are people too ashamed to even talk about this procedure, but some find it extremely painful. I kept recalling my mother proclaiming for the past two decades she would rather die than have another colonoscopy. That is why, after her last chemo treatment 20 years ago, she never got tested again. My sisters, although they are older than I and also in a high-risk category, stubbornly feel the same way.

The good news is that colonoscopies are a lot easier than they used to be. The technology has gotten better and a lot of doctors have figured out that a little sedation goes a long way in making the procedure manageable.

My experience was good. It was actually easy; I did not feel a thing. My New York doctor put me under for the procedure. I couldn't understand what the big deal was until I found out that only a fraction of Czech hospitals use sufficient sedation for colonoscopies. Some put patients under as a matter of course, some of them only at patient's request, and some don't sedate at all.

It is almost too obvious: When a colonoscopy — the only reliable detection method in early colon cancer — is too difficult for people, they simply skip it until more serious problems arise. At that point, they have no choice. But it is often too late for effective treatment.

A friend who recently had an endoscopy in Prague asked about sedation, and a doctor told her they "only give sedation to hysterical women." Brave men and women apparently don't need it. In all truth, it was probably just easier and cheaper for the doctor to not have to deal with the procedures related to sedatives use. Since my friend did not want to appear hysterical, she agreed to try it without. She said it "wasn't too bad." But would she do it again? She's not sure.