Getting regular colonoscopy screenings, one every 10 years, may prevent 40 percent of colorectal cancers, according to researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health.
This is one of the first studies to show the benefits of regular screening. Researchers looked at data from more than 88,000 patients who filled out questionnaires every two years between 1988 and 2008. Out of 1,815 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer, 474 died. When they looked into who had colonoscopies, they found that 40 percent of those cancers would have been prevented with screening.
“Physicians are empowered by this data, because we can say to patients, based on this study, that there is strong evidence that a colonoscopy is effective at preventing colorectal cancer,” said Jennifer Davids, MD, an assistant professor of surgery and colorectal specialist at UMass Memorial Medical Center.
The current recommendation is that people over 50 should get a colonoscopy every 10 years, unless you have a family history of the cancer or other colon problems.
Virus or Bacteria? New Blood Test May Know
A new blood test may be able to determine whether a person has a viral or bacterial infection, helping to combat antibiotic-resistant bugs that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning people about.
The body’s immune system releases a response to any sort of foreign pathogen to fight it off. The response differs between a bacterial and viral infection, and the new blood test IDs the genetic signature created when the body is responding to a virus only.
“Tests that say you don’t need antibiotics are often not done or are limited in scope,” said study author Aimee Zaas, MD, MHS, associate professor of infectious diseases and international health at Duke. “Many people are prescribed antibiotics when they don’t need them simply because we’re limited in our ability,” to test, she said. For doctors, this test “could give you more confidence in this situation” to not prescribe a drug, Dr. Zaas added.
Two Questions to Spot Senior Mobility Problems
Asking seniors two questions may be the key to spotting early signs of physical decline, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study authors said being physically active is important for healthy aging, and recommended primary care doctors ask seniors the following questions:
- For health or physical reasons, do you have difficulty climbing up 10 steps or walking a quarter of a mile?
- Because of underlying health or physical reasons, have you modified the way you climb 10 steps or walk a quarter of a mile?
"Mobility is one of the cornerstones of healthy aging," said Dr. Cynthia Brown, of the division of gerontology, geriatrics, and palliative care at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, in a release. "With an increasing older population in the United States, it is incumbent on us to find ways to help older Americans continue to live well and independently. The major barriers — lack of physical activity, obesity and smoking — are all risk factors that can be successfully overcome with appropriate treatment and assistance."
Some Kids Diagnosed With Autism May Have Genetic Disorder
A genetic deletion disorder may be the correct diagnosis for some children diagnosed with autism.
Rates of autism in children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome have been reported between 20 and 50 percent. But this study in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders found that none of the 29 children with the syndrome "met strict diagnostic criteria" for autism.
These children are often misdiagnosed because the social difficulties linked to their developmental delay can resemble parts of autism, said the researchers at the University of California, Davis, MIND Institute.