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Every year over 14 million healthy Americans undergo colonoscopy examinations to detect colon cancer. Adjusted for population, that amounts to 250,000 Slovaks.
The Annals of Internal Medicine in an article titled “Complications of Colonoscopy in an Integrated Health Care System” stated that approximately 70,000 people (0.50%) are killed or injured by complications of this examination.
By contrast, the annual death rate from colon cancer is only 0.22%. Adjusted to Slovak conditions this comes out to 1,250 people harmed or killed annually in our country!
Problem areas questioning the benefits of colonoscopy
In this section we take a closer look at a few facts that call into question the benefit of colonoscopic examination.
1. A dramatic increase in colorectal cancer incidence. Despite millions of examinations performed between 2000 and 2007, the annual incidence of colorectal cancer in the USA increased by about 30,000 cases.
2. More polyps are missed than found. Approximately one third of colonoscopies routinely miss polyps, and even cancerous tumors. According to a National Cancer Institute report dated 17.10.2008, practically 100% of polyps in the right side of the ascending colon are missed.
3. Removing polyps does not prevent the development of cancer. According to a 2006 study, colorectal cancer developed within a few years after the examination at roughly the same rate as would be expected in the general population — even when polyps had been removed.
4. An overestimated risk of death from colorectal cancer. The risks of this type of cancer are overestimated for commercial purposes. Even a person in a high-risk group has a 12-fold higher risk of dying from heart disease, 10-fold from another cancer, 6-fold from medical error, 3-fold from stroke, and a 2-fold risk of dying in a traffic accident.
5. 95% of polyps are benign. They will never become cancer, so removing them has no significance.
6. Not all colorectal cancers are preceded by polyps. Most tumors arise from flat scars that no one suggests removing, even though they are up to 5 times more likely to develop into cancer than polyps.
Health risks of colonoscopy – 8 reasons to avoid it
The problem with colonoscopy is not only the lack of benefits described above. It is also associated with direct risks to the patient’s health and even life.
1. Colonoscopic examination increases the risk of death from all other causes. The Telemark Polyp Study I showed that after colonoscopy patients had a 157% higher risk of death than the control group (for the reasons described below). The reduction in colorectal carcinoma incidence was, however, only 2% (statistically insignificant).
2. Increased risk of cancer. Removing malignant polyps or biopsying them releases cancer cells into the bloodstream. These cells can form metastases that create new tumors throughout the body.
3. High risk of internal bleeding. Removing polyps significantly increases the patient’s risk of death due to hard-to-detect internal bleeding. This can cause an ischemic infarct, myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest or sudden heart failure.
4. Severe dehydration. Bowel preparation before colonoscopy causes severe dehydration. It can cause irreversible kidney damage, dizziness, loss of consciousness, ischemic infarct, sudden cardiac death, injury and other complications.
5. Chronic disease of the colon. Disruption of bowel function after colonoscopy often leads to constipation, severe diarrhea, inflammations and intestinal obstruction. All these complications cause an inflamed-bowel syndrome. This single factor increases the risk of colon cancer up to 32-fold!
6. Respiratory infections and pneumonia. After general anesthesia up to 25% of people develop respiratory infections. Many elderly people die weeks or months later from acute pneumonia. The mortality rate for pneumonia is 5%, which represents approximately 60,000 people in the USA annually — more than deaths from colorectal cancer.
7. Blood clots and pulmonary embolism. Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism are common side effects of general anesthesia. In the US alone they are the cause of up to 200,000 deaths annually.
8. Complications from physician errors during colonoscopy. In the USA up to 70,000 people each year (adjusted to Slovakia 3,500 people) suffer injuries caused by physicians during colonoscopy. The actual rate, including unreported damage, is estimated at 280,000 (14,000 in Slovakia), i.e. 2% of procedures.
What instead of colonoscopy?
Originally we intended to leave this topic for a separate article. However, many readers asked us what they should undergo instead of colonoscopy?
One well-known doctor comments on this topic that instead of colonoscopy of the entire intestine, it is entirely sufficient to examine only its last part — from the rectum to the first fold in the abdominal cavity.
This is because most cancers are found in this part of the colon anyway, and safer instruments are used for this examination than in a classic colonoscopy.
Conclusion
If you are approaching the age when regular colonoscopy screenings begin, roughly 50 years of age, carefully weigh the benefits and risks of that examination.
Despite heavy media coverage of its alleged benefits, the public is somehow neglected in being informed about its obvious shortcomings.
If this topic does not yet concern you, be sure to make your parents and acquaintances aware of it, because a correct decision today can literally affect their life tomorrow.
