Some hope virtual colonoscopies lead to more cancer screening

[TexasTowelie]

Cynthia Bledsoe let her 50th birthday pass without getting the colonoscopy recommended for adults her age. Like many people, she was wary of the procedure that checks for colorectal cancer, and she avoided having it done for nearly four years.

Then last year, she asked her physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital if she could try a "virtual" colonoscopy, which is less invasive than the standard procedure to detect polyps that can lead to colon cancer.

"It was easy and it was painless," said Bledsoe, now 54 and living in White Hall. "As soon as it was over I became an advocate. As much as I dreaded it, it was a positive experience."

Colorectal cancer is the second-most-common cause of cancer death among cancers that affect both men and women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 134,000 people will develop colorectal cancer this year and nearly 49,000 will die of the disease, according to the American Cancer Society. The risk of developing polyps, growths that can turn into cancer, increases with age.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/blog/bs-hs-virtual-colonoscopy-20160817-story.html

[Divine Discontent]

1. K&R. And someone out there is reading this who needs one, please if you can, go get it! n/t

[still_one]

2. The procedure is painless, it is the prep, and whether it is a virtual or standard

colonoscopy they both go through the same prep, except, if the virtual finds something, then they have to do the prep again, and go through the standard colonoscopy.

Having a standard colonoscopy takes care of everything. if a polyp is found it is removed right there and then, and sent to the pathologist.

Also Virtual colonoscopy is not as sensitive as conventional colonoscopy for finding polyps less than 10 millimeters in size. In other words things can be missed. That is why the recommendation for those who have a virtual colonoscopy is every 5 years, and for a conventional colonoscopy every 10 years, unless something is found with either procedure, and then it is more frequent

[spooky3]

3. Exactly. I'm not sure whether the risks of the virtual are lower,

But it's the prep that's so difficult and unpleasant, not the procedure. You're totally out for the colonoscopy itself and and you wake up able to do most things you could do any day (maybe after taking a brief nap).

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

4. Interesting coincidence

I have to go through that procedure this morning. The real not the virtual. While not pleasant it beats the alternative. I've known people who've died from colorectal cancer.

[TexasTowelie]

5. I hope that they find nothing.

My brother had it done about three weeks ago at the VA and they did find a polyp that needed to be removed. He hasn't heard about the biopsy results, but I imagine that if it was dangerous they would have contacted him.

I need to get one myself, but the surgical unit at my local hospital closed down and I don't have a lot of options since I'm on indigent care. I haven't had any symptoms, but I went in when I was 40 and now that I'm 51 it is time to have it done again.