Well, this is an eye opener for some of us.
Doctors say you may not need to be screened as
often for colon cancer.
This is according to a study published in JAMA Oncology.
So it's legit. Swedish researchers say patients can go longer
between screenings if they have a negative test result.
That window increasing from every 10 years,
which we've been told to every 15 years.
To talk us through that and talk more about other
topics is Doctor Jeff Potoff,
U WS Health, chief quality officer,
Colon cancer. As you know,
Doc, it's the second most deadly cancer in the US
Lung cancer is first.
So help me understand the wisdom of getting screened less
frequently.
Yeah. So really the the wisdom around looking for ways
to safely screen less frequently is that right now we're
seeing cancers at an earlier age.
There's more people who are eligible to get colon cancer
screening.
And quite frankly, we don't have enough GI physicians or
facilities to do all the colonoscopies that need to be
done.
So if it's safe to go from every 10 years
to every 15 years on,
you know, average risk individuals,
that would be desirable. The study out of Sweden says
that it likely would be OK to do that in
Sweden.
I don't know if that translates completely over here to
us.
Our population's a little bit different.
Sweden's mostly white. They also have a National Health plan.
They know family histories really well on all their patients.
But it's something that we should be looking into.
Really, the message for folks is if you're due for
colon cancer screening,
any test that screens you is better than not getting
any test done at all.
So like so many things these days,
it's a staffing shortage. You just talked about it.
And one doc at Johns Hopkins says there simply aren't
enough gastroenterology docs to do exams for people over 50.
And it comes at a time when colon cancer is
increasing in younger Americans.
So what's your advice to those who are under 45
and about getting screened? Yeah,
so I think you know,
if you're 45 to 49,
there are other ways to get screened for colon cancer.
Colonoscopy may be the gold standard,
but especially for low risk patients,
CT colonography, these kind of
stool based tests, common one is Cologuard.
These are actually pretty good options for folks that are
low risk for having severe disease.
Now if you have a positive family history,
you've had polyps in the past,
that changes your risk a little bit.
That's where you need to talk to your physician.
You may need colonoscopy. You may need it sooner than
every 10 years.
But low risk individuals, there are other ways to get
screened and more important to get screened than to really
kind of focus on which tests you use to get
it done. Well, let's go back to that for those
of us who have lost a parent to colon cancer.
I lost my dad to the disease.
Should we stick to a guideline that I've been told
by my doc every five years?
Yeah. So like, once you have a close family history
or you've had your initial colonoscopy and they found polyps
or precancerous lesions,
the screening interval definitely changes.
It gets shorter because you're at higher risk of having
polyps that then turn cancerous.
So you're kind of in a special group.
If you have a first degree relatives that have passed
away from colon cancer or if you've had findings on
previous colonoscopy,
certainly follow the guidelines of your gastroenterologist if if that
applies to you,
we got about 45 seconds here.
And this next story is good news.
Troubling new situation when it comes to women dying before,
during and after childbirth. A mortality rate that shot up
during the pandemic has come down significantly,
but there's still a disparity when it comes to women
of color.
How come?
Yeah, you're absolutely right. And.
And we see this big difference in white women,
Asian women who have mortality rates during pregnancy between like
20 to 13 per 100,000 to black women who have
a mortality rate of about 50 per 100,000.
And we really think this is access to care.
We have kind of maternal deserts in this country where
people just can't get access to that prenatal care.
And we know that that leads to higher rates of
complications death in these women
certainly something we need to focus on as far as
social determinants of health
to close that that disparity gap.
Doctor Jeff Potter for UW Health.
We thank you for your time as always.
Appreciate it. Thank you.