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Overall, the colorectal cancer story is encouraging

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Re: Overall, the colorectal cancer story is encouraging

#71

Post by jorblumesea »

y-curious wrote: post #16

I’m in my early 30s and am starting to think about getting a screening. Problem is, it’s not trivial to do. You have to really upsell your doctor to get one so early, even though it’s a relatively benign procedure. There is a noninvasive testing method called Shield but it is way too flawed to be reliable (with poor positive rates for malignant tumors)

while it sucks, paying for it out of pocket is probably cheaper if you can't get it covered. In the long run, $1500 as a bridge until your 40s feels cheaper than stage 4 cancer.

Re: Overall, the colorectal cancer story is encouraging

#73

Post by anoojb »

dexwiz wrote: post #5

Something I've never seen in these analyses is drinking. Millennials are heavy drinkers. Both craft brews and cocktails were defining generational traits. Not everyone is a drinker but it appears they are heavy drinkers compared to other generations. The theory behind the ultra marathoners is that extreme distance running disrupts the epithelial layer and microbiome in the gut. Wouldn't drinking have similar effects?

This finding is crazy! I wonder how many modern health issues have to do with healthy blood/nutrient flow to tissues, that are basically solved with either mild/moderately amounts of movement and a balanced diet.

Re: Overall, the colorectal cancer story is encouraging

#74

Post by bluGill »

y-curious wrote: post #16

I’m in my early 30s and am starting to think about getting a screening. Problem is, it’s not trivial to do. You have to really upsell your doctor to get one so early, even though it’s a relatively benign procedure. There is a noninvasive testing method called Shield but it is way too flawed to be reliable (with poor positive rates for malignant tumors)

> even though it’s a relatively benign procedure.

Not completely. Every once in a while they accidentally puncture the intestine with the probes and that becomes a significant medial problem. It doesn't happen often, but that is still a risk that doctors need to consider. If you are over 50 getting one every 10 years is a good idea, and there is some consideration if younger might be worth it. However so few people get colon cancer under 40 that it isn't worth the risks for most - but if there are other signs of a problem (either family history or symptoms) that changes things and it may be worth it.

Re: Overall, the colorectal cancer story is encouraging

#75

Post by yodsanklai »

elric wrote: post #28

If anyone here is up for disrupting the medical field: please come up with a colonoscopy-equivalent with a less awful prep experience.

I really didn't mind the prep experience. I can't say it was pleasant, but not a big deal. For me the worst part is the risk of perforation: it's rare but adds risk to the procedure.

Re: Overall, the colorectal cancer story is encouraging

#76

Post by mitchal »

bluGill wrote: post #74
y-curious wrote: post #16

I’m in my early 30s and am starting to think about getting a screening. Problem is, it’s not trivial to do. You have to really upsell your doctor to get one so early, even though it’s a relatively benign procedure. There is a noninvasive testing method called Shield but it is way too flawed to be reliable (with poor positive rates for malignant tumors)

> even though it’s a relatively benign procedure. Not completely. Every once in a while they accidentally puncture the intestine with the probes and that becomes a significant medial problem. It doesn't happen often, but that is still a risk that doctors need to consider. If you are over 50 getting one every 10 years is a good idea, and there is some consideration if younger might be worth it. However so few people g…

I was diagnosed at 35 seven years ago with no history. Getting a colonoscopy never crossed my mind, much less being suggested by my general practitioner.

The trigger for me was blood in my stool. It was the slightest amount but I pursued it because that didn’t seem right. Turns out I had hemorrhoids which brought up something I feel hits others - I was embarrassed.

Fortunately the doctor that performed a banding procedure pushed me to get a colonoscopy purely out of being through and seeing the number of incidences increase at my age range.

I often wonder how much the embarrassment factor comes into play here.

Re: Overall, the colorectal cancer story is encouraging

#77

Post by nubinetwork »

stevenjgarner wrote: post #18
nubinetwork wrote: post #7

Strange, because I've heard the exact opposite... https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/colorectal-cancer-keeps-risin...

That is EXACTLY what the post is saying: > But that progress belongs almost entirely to people 50 and over. For people under 50, both incidence and mortality have been climbing. CRC is now the #1 cancer killer in men under 50. You need to go to the 2nd screen "Split by age group"

Maybe their website sucks and all I saw was 2 graphs

Re: Overall, the colorectal cancer story is encouraging

#78

Post by pessimizer »

y-curious wrote: post #16

I’m in my early 30s and am starting to think about getting a screening. Problem is, it’s not trivial to do. You have to really upsell your doctor to get one so early, even though it’s a relatively benign procedure. There is a noninvasive testing method called Shield but it is way too flawed to be reliable (with poor positive rates for malignant tumors)

> I’m in my early 30s and am starting to think about getting a screening.

This is a pretty stupid thing to do unless you've had some sort of symptom or family history. Your protection from illness due to screening is statistical, and jumping out of the calculated recommendation just makes it more likely to hurt you (false positives, false negatives, injuries from the procedure) than to benefit you.

Desperately trying to fabricate a reason is just intentionally trying to hurt yourself.

I'm not against colonoscopies (is anyone?) and I personally had my first one early because of an odd pain. Turned out to be unrelated.

edit: the neurotic desperation for disease screening that I see in a lot of people bothers me a lot because it's this odd fetishization of medical science combined with the active subversion of it. For me it's a weird insistence that all tests are good but that the math behind them is not.

Re: Overall, the colorectal cancer story is encouraging

#79

Post by greedo »

helterskelter wrote: post #40
y-curious wrote: post #16

I’m in my early 30s and am starting to think about getting a screening. Problem is, it’s not trivial to do. You have to really upsell your doctor to get one so early, even though it’s a relatively benign procedure. There is a noninvasive testing method called Shield but it is way too flawed to be reliable (with poor positive rates for malignant tumors)

Lie about family history, but even colonoscopies are not perfect; I just had somebody in my family die of CRC because... - They had symptoms and wanted a screening, but their PCP repeatedly denied them a referral for like a year because they were "too young". - They lied about family history after symptoms got worse and got their referral. - They got the colonoscopy which came back clean, and then symptoms continued…

IANAL, just a CRC survivor and one who had my PCP miss my diagnosis a year before I started treatment. You may have a pretty good malpractice claim.

Re: Overall, the colorectal cancer story is encouraging

#80

Post by greedo »

PenguinCoder wrote: post #65
proee wrote: post #2

Wow, I had no idea there is a 15X increase for endurance athletes. Make me want to dial down the running a bit, which make you wonder where the sweet spot is for distance training.

Interesting, I wasn't aware of that connection either. I was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer, but was identified as 'genetic' and not caused by diet or lifestyle. I used to be a heavy runner too, done a few marathons, and plenty more 10k, 8ks etc. Wonder if that could be a correlation... Treatments have it contained/in maintenance so at least I have that going for me.

I too was diagnosed with stage 2 rectal cancer, but it was back in 2005. How did they determine your cause was genetic?
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