Sigmoidoscopy News and Research

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Sigmoidoscopy is the examination of the lower colon using a sigmoidoscope, inserted into the rectum. A sigmoidoscope is a thin, tube-like instrument with a light and a lens for viewing. It may also have a tool to remove tissue to be checked under a microscope for signs of disease. Also called proctosigmoidoscopy.

Six essential screening tests all men should receive during lifetime

When it's comes men and health, the numbers don't stack up. Compared to women, men are 24 percent less likely than women to visit the doctor, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Yet, men are 28 percent more likely than women to be hospitalized for congestive heart failure and 32 percent more likely to receive care for complication of diabetes.

17 Jun 2014

Promising way to prevent disparities in colorectal cancer screening

People living in poverty are less likely to be screened regularly for colorectal cancer-and more likely to develop the disease and die from it. How to end these disparities-and raise screening rates, lower disease rates, and prevent deaths? A promising way is to mail fecal immunochemical tests (a newer kind of stool test) to populations, Beverly B. Green, MD, MPH, and Gloria D. Coronado, PhD, wrote in the June 17 JAMA Internal Medicine.

17 Jun 2014

Studies confirm importance of men seeing physician on regular basis

For many men being a father is about staying strong as they protect and care for their family. Some men see going to the doctor as a weakness or nuisance, but protecting your health is one of the best things a father can do for his family.

6 Jun 2014

Interactive multimedia computer program fails to increase colorectal cancer screening rates

Colorectal cancer screening saves lives, but too few people get tested. In an effort to increase these numbers,researchers from UC Davis and elsewhere investigated whether an individualized interactive multimedia computer program (IMCP) would spur patients to get screened.

14 May 2014

Adenoma detection rates track future risk of colorectal cancer, study finds

A study of over 224,000 patients and more than 314,000 colonoscopies found that adenoma detection rates closely tracked the future risk of colorectal cancer. The study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

2 Apr 2014

Important facts about colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the U.S., with about 143,000 new patients diagnosed last year. But thanks to increased awareness about screenings, the death rate from colorectal cancer has been dropping for more than 20 years.

6 Mar 2014

Mailing test results to patient’s home increase colon cancer screening rates by 40%

Colon cancer screening rates increased by nearly 40 percent when free stool tests were mailed to patients' homes, according to results of a pilot study published today in the journal BMC Cancer.

27 Feb 2014

Researchers recommend FIT as screening tool for colorectal cancer

Tests that require patients to collect a single stool sample at home and then send it to a lab for analysis will detect about 79 percent of colorectal cancers, according to a new evidence review published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

4 Feb 2014

Colorectal cancer screening rates remain too low, reveals new Vital Signs report

Colorectal cancer screening rates remain too low, with about one in three adults (ages 50 to 75 years) not being tested for colorectal cancer, according to a new Vital Signs report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

6 Nov 2013

Combining fecal immunological test and colonoscopy may improve detection of colorectal cancer

A strategy that combines two effective colorectal cancer screening methods, fecal immunological test and colonoscopy, may improve prevention and detection of colorectal cancer and reduce costs, according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.

28 Aug 2013

Endoscopic imaging: an interview with Len Farris, Vice President of Marketing, Americas, PENTAX Medical

The impact of endoscopic imaging on patient care has been enormous since the first fiber optic systems were introduced more than 50 years ago. Today, high resolution and high definition systems are used to provide clinicians and patients unprecedented images from inside the body.

From PENTAX Medical Company 3 Jul 2013

AGA, CDC partner to promote free colonoscopies for uninsured patients

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among men and women nationwide. During National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) are joining forces for the second year to promote free colonoscopies for uninsured patients.

19 Mar 2013

Screening colonoscopy associated with reduced advanced colorectal cancer diagnoses

A new study led by a researcher at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania adds support to current medical recommendations stating that screening colonoscopy substantially reduces an average-risk adult's likelihood of being diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) in either the right or left side of the colon.

4 Mar 2013

Electronic health records increase colorectal cancer screening rates

Researchers used electronic health records to identify Group Health patients who weren't screened regularly for cancer of the colon and rectum-and to encourage them to be screened. This centralized, automated approach doubled these patients' rates of on-time screening-and saved health costs-over two years.

4 Mar 2013

Surgeons make thousands of errors every year

So-called 'never events' happen more than 4,000 times a year, according to a study by Johns Hopkins researchers. Another report finds health care workers just as likely as people they treat to be overweight, avoid the dentist, get sunburned and not wear seatbelts.

21 Dec 2012

Tofacitinib drug shows promise against moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis

An investigational drug currently under FDA review for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis has now shown positive results in patients with moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis, according to researchers at the University of California San Diego, School of Medicine.

16 Aug 2012

Antioxidants and pancreatic cancer risk: an interview with Dr Andrew Hart

The antioxidants that we mainly looked at were selenium, vitamin C and vitamin E. They are chemicals which inactivate pro-oxidants or free radicals. Smoking and normal metabolism can lead to the production of free radicals.

30 Jul 2012

Flat polyps may explain colorectal cancer screening discrepancy

Poor ability to detect sessile serrated polyps may explain why endoscopy is more effective at reducing cancer in the distal than the proximal colon, US researchers have discovered.

27 Jun 2012

Flexible sigmoidoscopy reduces deaths due to colorectal cancer

Research conducted at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as part of a national study reveals that flexible sigmoidoscopy — a screening test for colorectal cancer that is less invasive and has fewer side-effects than colonoscopy — reduces deaths due to colorectal cancer.

23 May 2012

Colonic tissue may help predict Parkinson's disease

Two studies by neurological researchers at Rush University Medical Center suggest that, in the future, colonic tissue obtained during either colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy may be used to predict who will develop Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disorder of aging that that leads to progressive deterioration of motor function due to loss of neurons in the brain that produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter essential to executing movement.

16 May 2012