DONALD GORDON MEDICAL CENTRE
Dentist in Johannesburg

The WDGMC Endoscopy Unit is a specially designed out-patient department. It provides a pleasant and efficient environment for endoscopic procedures without the need for hospital admission. Doctors from different specialities including gastroenterology and surgery work within the department. Screening is the performing of tests to diagnose a disease or identify patients at high risk of developing a disease before a patient presents with symptoms. If we wait until a patient has symptoms of colorectal cancer the disease is often in a late stage where the treatment options are limited and survival is poor. The aim of screening is to pick up the disease either in the pre-malignant stage (i.e. before cancer has developed) or in the early stages where treatment can be curative and survival extremely good. All patients over the age of 50 should be screened for colorectal cancer. In families with a history of cancer the screening should start 10years prior to the youngest affected family member. In some rare inherited conditions screening can start as early as the teenage years. 80% of all cancers diagnosed are in patients with NO family history. There are a number of different options available for screening. These include faecal occult blood (FOB) testing (testing your stool for the presence of blood) and colonoscopy. In the USA where screening has been performed for over 10years the incidence rate of colorectal cancer has dropped dramatically. This has been attributed to screening which in the USA is mainly in the form of colonoscopy. Imaging techniques available include x-ray (radiography), state-of-the-art computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound. Geriatric Medicine is the treatment of the elderly and is a highly specialised medical area with only eight registered Geriatricians in South Africa. Our Sub-specialist Geriatric Medicine unit has been part of the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre since The unit provides comprehensive geriatric assessments and assists patients in the management of various complex physical and cognitive problems associated with the frail older person. We also advise our patients on the importance of the successful ageing concept for less frail people, who tend to be more healthy and strong. The WDGMC Geriatrics Unit also practices from a state service basis at the Helen Joseph Hospital. South Africa has a critical shortage of medical experts, especially when compared to the rest of the world. Find out more about U Rock and how you can help us train medical experts. We believe that the journey to recovery should be as comfortable and stress free as possible. Child and adolescent mental health problems are common and associated with a wide range of functional impairment.