Tagged with “colonoscopy”

More Choices Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening Use

When people were offered a personal choice of either FOBT or colonoscopy screening by their primary care provider, more actually completed the test they chose than if only one option was offered.

In a study of 1,000 ethnically and racially diverse people, the lowest percentage had a colonoscopy when that was the only test offered. More completed fecal occult blood testing if it was the single choice. Overall 65 percent of the 1,000 patients studied were screened after their doctor recommended testing. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on May 8th, 2010
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: colonoscopy, colorectal cancer screening, FOBT

Nurses Endoscopists Can Perform Colonoscopy Safely and Effectively

Nurses and other health professionals may be necessary to meet demand for colonoscopies as colorectal cancer screening programs grow to meet needs. Being sure that they can meet standards for quality exams is critical.

In the Netherlands, five nurse endoscopists were trained to do colonoscopies under the supervision of a senior gastroenterologist. Each had 100 consecutive procedures evaluated for both quality and patient satisfaction.

During the study their exams met international standards for quality, and 95 percent of patients said that, overall, they were satisfied with their experience. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on May 7th, 2010
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: colonoscopy, nurse endoscopist

Annual Colonoscopy for Lynch Syndrome

Annual colonoscopies for people with Lynch syndrome (HNPCC or hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer) successfully find cancers at an early stage.

A recent study by the German HNPCC Consortium confirmed the effectiveness of annual colonoscopies to find colorectal cancers at a curable stage. Regular colonoscopies found early cancers more often than did patient symptoms.

Current recommendations are for surveillance colonoscopies to begin by age 25, be repeated every 1 to 2 years until age 40, and then annually.

Posted by Kate Murphy on March 12th, 2010
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: colonoscopy, HNPCC, Lynch syndrome

Miss Harry’s Live Colonoscopy? You Can See It Now.

Harry Smith’s Early Show colonoscopy is being replayed on CBS.com.

You can watch Harry and Katie Couric the day before the test discuss the prep and talk about saving lives by finding polyps. This morning, Katie is in the procedure room with Harry and the medical staff.

Dr. Mark Pochapin demonstrates how the colonoscope works to view the colon, snare polyps if they are found, and remove them.

As Dr. Pochapin withdraws the scope, Harry is awake but comfortable, talking and asking questions. Dr. Pochapin explains what he is seeing on the video monitor in Harry’s colon.

Afterwards, Harry said, “Piece of cake! You have a tremendous peace of mind.”

Katie says, “Do it for the people you love.”

Posted by Kate Murphy on March 10th, 2010
Posted in: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags: colonoscopy, Early Show, Harry Smith, Katie Couric