Effective Pills to make cancer screening easier

According to Mayo Clinic researchers the pills will get rid of the practice of taking litres of unpleasant liquid laxatives before a virtual colonoscopy.

"Some become so anxious about drinking so much liquid that they avoid the entire procedure, putting them at risk of undiagnosed cancer," the clinic said.

That effect has added to colorectal cancer being the second leading cause of cancer deaths among Americans, according to doctors, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

But now with the four tiny pills, the size of a round aspirin, there's another option that they say provides the same results of standard liquid laxatives.

For 88 per cent of colonoscopy patients, however, it's the only one required, the Mayo Clinic stated.

The exception, or the 12 per cent, would be the cases that they find something requiring a standard colonoscopy.

"Our hope is that this will make people less anxious and more likely to get screened and will ultimately result in fewer deaths from colorectal cancer," said C Daniel Johnson, chair of the Department of Radiology at Arizona's Mayo Clinic.

Doctors at the Mayo Clinic recommend regular screenings for people over the age of 50 but admit that most do not.