Colonoscopy

malg said:
Ok. How do you go about it? Guessing you visited your GP and then asked for one? From what you've said, it appears you had no symptoms, but they found something, so as I'm in your age group, I'm wondering if it's worthwhile me nipping along and getting myself checked out.
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My missus is a nurse and she explained how important it is when your over 50 to have a C every 3 years

So Ive done that 3 years ago and again recently when they found the big polyp, I had no symptoms

I went to my Doc and requested he refer me to a gastroenterologist which he did

No GP has ever suggested I do this but its there if you request it, you have to be proactive with your health, not just wait till youve got symptoms, by then it could be too late.
There was a wait on the public system so I paid to have one privately. I dont know if you have much of a wait on the NHS.
 
nimrod said:
My missus is a nurse and she explained how important it is when your over 50 to have a C every 3 years

So Ive done that 3 years ago and again recently when they found the big polyp, I had no symptoms

I went to my Doc and requested he refer me to a gastroenterologist which he did

No GP has ever suggested I do this but its there if you request it, you have to be proactive with your health, not just wait till youve got symptoms, by then it could be too late.
There was a wait on the public system so I paid to have one privately. I dont know if you have much of a wait on the NHS.
Click to expand...
Cheers, good to know.
 
I think the reason why routine colonoscopy is not done on the NHS is that it is uncomfortable , expensive and not completely without risk. The risk of major complications is about 1:400 and the risk of death about 1:12000.
If you give it to everyone you will be needlessly killing people.
There are approx 20M people between 50 and 80 if you gave everyone a colonoscopy you would kill about 1700 and hospitalising sometimes for prolonged periods another 50,000. (And you will probably miss some of the cancers)
If you are 50 the chances of having colorectal cancer are about 1:2000 however the incidence of major complications from colonoscopy is about 1:400

The recommended way to screen is to have your poo checked for blood on a regular basis and have a colonoscopy if positive. You will catch most but not all cancers this way and save a huge amount of time and discomfort.
Some people with family histories or other medical conditions do need regular colonoscopies, the evidence for everyone getting them is not really there. Clearly if you do have symptoms that are bothering you you should see a doctor but based on age the best advice is getting your poo checked.
 
Cityfan said:
I think the reason why routine colonoscopy is not done on the NHS is that it is uncomfortable , expensive and not completely without risk. The risk of major complications is about 1:400 and the risk of death about 1:12000.
If you give it to everyone you will be needlessly killing people.
There are approx 20M people between 50 and 80 if you gave everyone a colonoscopy you would kill about 1700 and hospitalising sometimes for prolonged periods another 50,000. (And you will probably miss some of the cancers)
If you are 50 the chances of having colorectal cancer are about 1:2000 however the incidence of major complications from colonoscopy is about 1:400

The recommended way to screen is to have your poo checked for blood on a regular basis and have a colonoscopy if positive. You will catch most but not all cancers this way and save a huge amount of time and discomfort.
Some people with family histories or other medical conditions do need regular colonoscopies, the evidence for everyone getting them is not really there. Clearly if you do have symptoms that are bothering you you should see a doctor but based on age the best advice is getting your poo checked.
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Having your poo checked for blood doesnt tell you if you have polyps, I had no blood in my poo and yet had a 6 cm polyp, which thankfully was pre-cancerous.

Advising people not to have colonoscopies is quite worrying imo and goes against medical advice.

According to the Australian Gov website only 1 in 500 suffer any complications, a lot of these can be quite small like the prep giving an adverse effect, also a lot of people who quite old (in their 80's) with pre-existing problems who will have problems.

http://www.cancerscreening.gov.au/internet/screening/publishing.nsf/Content/bw-colon-brochure
 
Firstly I am glad your polyp is getting sorted and hope that you live a long and healthy life, but I think you misunderstood my post a little.
I was trying to point out why colonoscopy is not performed routinely on the NHS as a screening measure and why the benefits of such screening should be weighed against the risks.
Personally I would not undergo a colonoscopy without a confirmed indication just as I would not take an antibiotic without a proper indication.

I am not advising against colonoscopy I am pointing out they are not risk free and undergoing colonoscopy without indication is undergoing a potentially hazardous and uncomfortable procedure with uncertain benefit.

The government website that you link to says the major complications are a little less than 1:500 Not all complications. Which is not very different from the figures I gave which were from the UK guidelines based on the known figures of a screening programme in Canada I believe.
The Australian governments recommendations appear to be similar to the UKs based on poo screening and only going onto colonoscopy if it is positive for blood in asymptomatic individuals.

Routine colonoscopy would probably pick up more cancers and certainly more polyps which may or may not progress to cancer however it would be at the expense of some complications including death in disease free individuals.
As far as I can see the evidence is not there to justify taking this step over the current programme. The evidence may evolve and I don't claim to be an expert in this field, but I have seen some very serious complications from routine colonoscopy in disease free individuals.
 
Gaylord du Bois said:
Anyone who goes through that procedure, without sedation, is seriously unhinged.
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I have had 4 over the last 3 years and haven't had sedation not been a problem until the one I had last week at the MRI that did make my eyes water, didn't have the drink like normal they gave me a enema that was more painful than the camera
 
Cityfan said:
Firstly I am glad your polyp is getting sorted and hope that you live a long and healthy life, but I think you misunderstood my post a little.
I was trying to point out why colonoscopy is not performed routinely on the NHS as a screening measure and why the benefits of such screening should be weighed against the risks.
Personally I would not undergo a colonoscopy without a confirmed indication just as I would not take an antibiotic without a proper indication.

I am not advising against colonoscopy I am pointing out they are not risk free and undergoing colonoscopy without indication is undergoing a potentially hazardous and uncomfortable procedure with uncertain benefit.

The government website that you link to says the major complications are a little less than 1:500 Not all complications. Which is not very different from the figures I gave which were from the UK guidelines based on the known figures of a screening programme in Canada I believe.
The Australian governments recommendations appear to be similar to the UKs based on poo screening and only going onto colonoscopy if it is positive for blood in asymptomatic individuals.

Routine colonoscopy would probably pick up more cancers and certainly more polyps which may or may not progress to cancer however it would be at the expense of some complications including death in disease free individuals.
As far as I can see the evidence is not there to justify taking this step over the current programme. The evidence may evolve and I don't claim to be an expert in this field, but I have seen some very serious complications from routine colonoscopy in disease free individuals.
Click to expand...


Well of course you are free to chose what you do personally, however I am extremely glad I went for a colonoscopy without indication
 
Had mine when I hit 50 - doctor said everyone has one.
The operation wasn't too bad (they removed maybe 4 malignant (I think that is the word) spots.
The worse thing was having to take the drink the day before to flush the system out...... spent the day on the bog!
 
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