#16

Yes, totally get what you mean, but colonoscopy is not a harmless procedure. There is a certain risk involved that should be considered too. A friend insisted on preventative colonoscopy at age 35, just to be sure in her words, she ended up having an emergency surgery after her intestinal wall was accidentally punctured during colonoscopy.

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#17

Yes, mine was punctured as well when removing a polyp. However they clipped it with the scanning apparatus and it was OK. How long ago was your friends puncture? I think new technology has made it less serious?

Also, punctures happen when they are cutting off the polyps, or that’s what happened in my case. If a polyp is detected, it’s best to get rid of it which always runs the risk of puncture unless you burn it off.

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#18

Few years ago, just before COVID, she is 39 now, her problem was that they did not notice the puncture during the procedure but she developed terrible pain and high fever some 12 hours later. She went to ER, she was given antibiotics and fluids, but after few days they decided to operate on her.
And I don’t want to say, skip colonoscopy, just that if there is an indication for colonoscopy do it. But try other noninvasive diagnostic procedures first if you don’t have any issues that would indicate colonoscopy is in order.
And I agree it can save lives. I have another friend, he was in his late thirties maybe early forties and had colonoscopy as part of his health bonus package payed by his employer and they found a large cancerous polyp and for sure colonoscopy saved his life or at least the surgery was a minor one compared to what he would need when his cancer would present with symptoms.

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#19

Ah. I think the technology has changed. I did my procedure in 2021 during COVID. They had a camera in real time broadcasting what was happening. The doctor and I watched as he snipped the polyp and it started bleeding. That’s when they knew they had punctured and then clipped the injury. The blood made it hard not to notice. I even got a DVD copy of the camera recording. (I always do that for malpractice reasons. Doctors do a better job when they’re recorded.).

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#20

What are people’s thoughts on the accuracy of the newer test like.

These have begun to be more widely covered by insurance companies:

#21

  1. Can you expand on what you mean by this?

  2. Are MRIs good a colon screening yet, I thought they were not good at that vs for other types of cancer?

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Dr. Blagosklonny's Cancer
#22

Good question Neo. So earlier this year a study came out demonstrating a less than expected impact on total mortality risk from colonoscopy. Then a separate study showed a greater than expected risk of perforation and other issues.

The Prenuvo is a more sensitive mri, and in fact its degree of sensitivity could be an issue with false positives, and while it can’t detect tiny polyps which may be mixed in with stools, it can detect very small, stage 1 cancers that have penetrated the colonic wall.

My feelings are this: if you have high risk for colon cancer then definitely find a very experienced provider and get the colonoscopies. In my case, my risk is fairly low, so I’m satisfied with having one baseline colonoscopy followed by yearly stool checks and periodic MRI scans.

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#23

Thanks, I was not aware of this.

For those interested in what seems to be a balanced overview on aspirin and colon cancer found this:

Excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Regular colorectal cancer screeningis the best way to reduce risk. But for certain people, taking a daily low-dose aspirin should also be on your to-do list.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) finds that low-dose aspirin can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by 40% for people who meet specific criteria.

Should you take aspirin to prevent colorectal cancer? | UCLA Health.

The majority of colorectal cancers occur in people older than 50. But the USPSTF guidelines recommend the use of aspirin only for adults age 50 to 59.

If you are age 60 to 69, the decision to use low-dose aspirin is an individual one and should be discussed with your physician. For adults under age 50 or age 70 and older, there is currently not enough evidence to support low-dose aspirin use.

May have a better risk profile when slightly younger (given larger risks for bleeding issues/related stroke as one gets older).

Interesting anecdotes that

  • Bryan Johnson does * Aspirin 81 mg 3x wk
    (But not sure how much that was for cardiovascular disease prevention vs colon protection vs other reasons).

  • Peter Attia is now back on (daily?) baby aspirin after having stopped taking it for a while (perhaps mostly for cardiovascular disease reasons it appears).

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The Wild Science of Growing Younger (Worth)
#24

I have also read that NAC prevents colon polyps which are usually precursors to colon cancer. I take 2.6 g of NAC daily. It also helps increase glutathione levels.

A preliminary double-blind, placebo-controlled study of NAC enrolled 62 individuals, each of whom had had a polyp removed from the colon.40 The abnormal growth of polyps is closely associated with the development of colon cancer. In this study, the potential anticancer benefits of NAC treatment were evaluated by taking a biopsy of the rectum. Individuals taking NAC at 800 mg daily for 12 weeks showed more normal cells in the biopsied tissue as compared to those in the placebo group.

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#27

I never drink sugar in liquid form. One of Attia’s guests mentioned this as a risk factor. It might have been Rick Johnson. No soft drinks, hfcs, or orange juice for me. Alcohol is another risk factor.

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#28

There’s a very recent study that confirms the inverse association between aspirin use and colon cancer. You have to weigh that against significant risk of bleeding from aspirin.

I’d lean towards taking the aspirin in the presence of family history of colon cancer or a past history of polyps.

There’s no mortality benefit from yearly skin exams. PSA is extremely unreliable in terms of mortality benefit. Many false positives.

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#31

If pretentious quotes are what the community leaders want for content, it is only fitting to integrate by following said customs.

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do”

Though permitting that kind of content can quickly lead to low quality posting and trolling where real discussions become impossible.

To quote René Descartes:
“Any community that gets its laughs by pretending to be idiots will eventually be flooded by actual idiots who mistakenly believe that they’re in good company.”

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#32

Cologuard has a false positive rate of 13%.

I read somewhere (still hunting the source down) that if you take a screening test, and later need a colonoscopy, the colonoscopy will be considered diagnostic, and no longer covered by insurance. So if you take a Cologuard test, that would be your screening test. If you test falsely positive, the colonoscopy will be diagnostic, and will not be covered by insurance.

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#33

A colonoscopy is quite inexpensive in America especially if you do it without anesthesia as Europeans do. I have done it without anesthesia every time, and it is only mildly unpleasant.

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#34

FWIW

Your posting was NOT flagged by me.

RapAdmin could easily verify that.

#35

That’s alright, just don’t post comments with only quotes anymore, as it’s just annoying to the people you are sending them to. And it doesn’t even make sense if you want to be taken seriously.

#36

OK guys - Joseph was correct in that he didn’t flag your post @AnUser

Please - and this applies to everyone - no more off-topic quotes in the forum. I will delete them.

Please lets focus on the topic at hand.

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#37

Reishi extract has been shown in a human clinical trial to suppress the development of precancerous lesions in the colon. It prevented development and reduced the size of existing adenomas.

It has also been shown to extend lifespan in mice. There is a recent thread here:

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#38

Thanks a lot @Vlasko

#39

Personally with a family history of colon cancer I do prevention with menbendazole or fenbendazole twice a week. Nac paired with glycine too. Probiotics especially s. boullardii and cervasie for added benefit.

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