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To hear your doctor recommend a “colonoscopy” can send chills down most peoples’ spines. The procedure, which involves a doctor sending a little camera fixed to the end of a flexible tube through the colon and into the intestines, can make even the strongest folks a bit uncomfortable. Some even fear that the procedure itself can cause harm. One study hopes to put those fears into perspective.
Many physicians who perform colonoscopies are beginning to ask their patient for a second cleansing of the bowel in the wee hours before their procedures to ensure the bowel is clean and reduce the need for a redo.
A study by a group of Italian researchers shows that virtual colonoscopies that use computer tomography scans are almost as effective at detecting tumors and precancerous lesions as standard colonoscopies, which requires threading a camera through the colon. The study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that the new procedure may offer an alternative to people who are too embarrassed or afraid to undergo a standard colonoscopy.
Nobody enjoys colonoscopies, but they save lives. Regular colon screenings can detect polyps even before they become cancerous. It is recommended that people begin colon screenings beginning at age 50, or earlier if they have a family history or are exhibiting symptoms such as blood in the stool. But how can you convince someone he needs to have a colonoscopy? Just have Pauly Polyp do the asking.
In his health care speech last week to a joint session of Congress, President Barack Obama argued that “there is no reason we shouldn’t be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse. That makes sense.” It makes sense, too, to the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), which has long supported the lifesaving potential of screening by colonoscopy specifically because it can detect and remove pre-cancerous polyps and thereby prevent the development of colorectal cancer.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) black box warning on oral sodium phosphates (OSPs) came late last year, but as early as 2003, doctors were beginning to make the link between OSP pills and solutions used to clear the bowel before colonoscopies and serious and permanent kidney injuries. As more and more reports of kidney damage and even complete kidney failure began to pour in to the FDA, the agency finally issued a mild warning in 2005. The black box warning on prescription OSP products would come three years later, after 21 more reports of serious kidney injuries. Soon after that FDA warning, C.B. Fleet quickly pulled its over-the-counter OSP products off the market.
It seems every time you turn on the TV, flip through a magazine, or go online, you are faced with another commercial or infomercial about the benefits of detoxifying the body through magic pills or solutions. From detox diets and foot cleansings to nasal irrigation and colon clearing– the options are seemingly limitless. Proving the benefits of such toxin-removing practices is sketchy, says Dr. Tyrone M. in a column in the Phillippine Star. And some practices can be downright dangerous to your health.
Could samples of your stool keep you from having a colonoscopy? Researchers at Baylor Medical Center think so. A team of doctors from Baylor pored through stool samples, analyzed long strands of DNA and were able to diagnose gastrointestinal cancers early, according to a report from KARE-TV 11.
Persons with irritable bowel, heightened anxiety, and those who anticipated discomfort are more likely to experience abdominal discomfort during a colonoscopy, according to a study in this month’s issue of the European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology. The study, which explored factors associated with discomfort during a colonoscopy, also found women were more likely than men to experience discomfort during the medical procedure.
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