Colonoscopies are useless too

Link just leads to r/medicine (removed?)

1) As per the conclusion: "In this randomized trial, the risk of colorectal cancer at 10 years was lower among participants who were invited to undergo screening colonoscopy than among those who were assigned to no screening." Specifically, 18% lower.

2) This trial was on "presumptively healthy" people. So if you have a clear reason for colonoscopy (e.g. Ulcerative colitis) it may be a different story.

Note that I have no medicine knowledge. But without further backing up I don't see a reason for the thread title.
 
I would say that study shows that colonoscopies slightly lower death by cancer but only by 18%. I would have expected more dramatic results given we are talking an 18% difference in a small risk.

You can't say that is bunk science though. That is a really nice sample size.
 
Pekelo said:
The result of the study was colonoscopy didn't make a difference in death rates:
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That's nonsense. At least where I live.
We all (male and female) receive, starting at the age of 55, a free test at home by mail. You can do the test and send the sample back (free, so no stamps needed). The test is about hidden blood in the stool.

Around 90% of the people that take the test, have no hidden blood at all and have to do nothing anymore.
Those who have hidden blood in their stool, are invited for a colonoscopy (no obligation, just free choice). I did the free test, had hidden blood in my stool and had an colonoscopy. The polyps that are removed are always analyzed, and the results for me was that, if I would have waited a few months longer, I would now be dead. I have a friend who died. If he would have done the test, he would by now probably still be alive. I also had a female colleague who had a very heavy operation and now lives with a stoma. She was lucky, and regretted that she did no do the free test she received.
I never had any bad experiences with the procedure; no pain during or after the procedure. You feel nothing as you are asleep (not full narcose).

I think I did not even pay 50 Euro in total for all the test and colonoscopies. I had 3 colonoscopies: the removal, then inspection after a few months, and a second inspection as there was still doubt after the first inspection.
We can also buy in a pharmacy the free tests, but for 25 Euro a piece. What's 25 Euro just to maybe save your life.
I lost my father at the age of 53 because of cancer. He went to the gym three times for week, never smoked and was no alcoholic. He felt like superman and died within three months after the cancer was discovered.
No matter how healthy you feel, you never have certainty that it will not happen to you.

Some more medical information:
A G-Eye colonoscopy detected 48.0% malignant polyps versus 37.5% in the Standard SC group (28% increase, p=0.0027). In addition, the G-Eye colonoscopy detected significantly more (96.9%) malignant advanced polyps (p=0.0033), also more so-called flat polyps (p<0.0001), and also more so-called serrated polyps (SSA/Ps) (p=0.0026) .
 
Last edited:
'No one should cancel their colonoscopies': Addressing controversy from a recent clinical trial

Despite some confusing messages this week around the value of colonoscopies, Wilmot Cancer Institute physicians and clinicians across the U.S. say the procedure remains the best and most proven way to detect cancer and prevent colorectal cancer deaths.

The controversy stems from a New England Journal of Medicine article published Oct. 9, 2022, on a large Nordic-European clinical trial.

Many news articles glossed over this red flag and made claims in headlines that colonoscopies fail to reduce cancer deaths, ignoring important context, according to the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG)

ACG issued a public statement and sent a terse letter to CNN, which led the news coverage, calling out the media for doing the public a disservice.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-10-cancel-colonoscopies-controversy-clinical-trial.html
 
Buy1Sell2 said:
How could they not save lives?
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It is possible that people who get it done take better care of themselves, so the overall life saving advantage is minimal. Now if colonoscopy was done on random population (expense and trouble prohibit this) it is possible the % of saved lives was bigger.

The mostly bullshit medical actions in America:

-wisdom tooth removal
-statin prescription
-colonoscopies
 
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