Virtual Colonoscopy Patients Aren't Who They Should Be

The virtual colonoscopy is used as a method of detecting colon cancer in its early stages in order to prevent the spread of the disease. Since colon cancer is a leading killer that takes the lives of a significant number of people each year, it is important to use this screening to reduce the devastation of the disease. Unfortunately studies indicate that those people actually taking advantage of the availability of this screening are low-risk patients who don't need it as much as others may need it. Of course, anyone who is considered to be of the appropriate age or at-risk situation for colon cancer should certainly get screening. But there are some people who are at higher risk that particularly need to be concerned about this issue and appear to be the ones who aren't getting the screening that they need (which of course further increases their risk of death from the disease). Doctors have pointed out that what's essentially happening is that there is too much screening going on in the low-risk groups and too little screening going on in the high-risk groups. This means that the services of the doctors who perform these procedures aren't being channeled appropriately which is leading to higher rates of death from the disease than need be. Patient education is likely the best method of resolving this problem. Question of the Day: What is causing low-risk patients to be more active in seeking out screening for colon cancer? photo link