News tagged with colonoscopy

Toward a urine test for detecting colon cancer

Scientists are reporting an advance toward development of a urine test for detecting colon cancer, the third most common cancer in the United States. Such a test could eventually compliment or even reduce ...

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created Apr 21, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Brain responses during anesthesia mimic those during natural deep sleep

The brains of people under anesthesia respond to stimuli as they do in the deepest part of sleep - lending credence to a developing theory of consciousness and suggesting a new method to assess loss of consciousness in conditions ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Jan 27, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Breakthrough on causes of inflammatory bowel disease

New research by the University of Adelaide could help explain why some people are more prone to Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and other autoimmune diseases.

Medicine & Health / Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (4) | comments 0

VA: 5th HIV case linked to unsterile equipment

(AP) -- A fifth patient has tested positive for HIV, and seven more tested positive for hepatitis after being exposed to contaminated medical equipment at three Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals, the agency said Friday.

Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS

created May 03, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Colon cancer screening technique shows continued promise in new study

Recent clinical trials show that a new colon cancer screening technique created by Northwestern University researchers has a high enough sensitivity that it could potentially be as or more successful than a colonoscopy in ...

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Jun 09, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Last-ditch method at fighting intestinal superbug

(AP) -- A superbug named C-diff is on the rise, a germ that so ravages some people's intestines that repeated tries of the strongest, most expensive antibiotic can't conquer their disabling diarrhea.

Medicine & Health / Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

created Dec 13, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1

Study: Less prep needed for colonoscopy

Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital may have found a better way to prep patients for colonoscopy procedures so they no longer need to drink a gallon of prescribed fluids prior to the procedure.

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created May 02, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Fewer left-sided colorectal tumors observed after colonoscopies

The prevalence of left-sided advanced colorectal neoplasms was lower in participants in a community setting, but not right-sided advanced neoplams, who had received a colonoscopy in the preceding 10 years, according to a ...

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 31, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Not all doctors follow cancer screening guidelines

Only one-fifth of primary care physicians in the US follow practice guidelines for colorectal cancer screening for all the tests they recommend, according to Dr. Robin Yabroff from the National Cancer Institute and her colleagues. ...

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Oct 14, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Colonoscopy: What to Expect When Your Doctor Wants an Inside Look

Colorectal cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the United States with more than 140,000 cases diagnosed each year. It is also one of the most preventable cancers. Since March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness ...

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Mar 10, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Studies examine Third Eye Retroscope during colonoscopy

Two new studies show an increase in polyp detection rates using the Third Eye Retroscope (TER), a retrograde viewing device, during colonoscopy. The first study found that TER added to standard colonoscopy detected 13.2 percent ...

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Mar 18, 2010 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Experts say US doctors overtesting, overtreating

(AP) -- Too much cancer screening, too many heart tests, too many cesarean sections. A spate of recent reports suggest that too many Americans - maybe even President Barack Obama - are being overtreated.

Medicine & Health / Health

created Mar 12, 2010 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 4

Miami VA: Steps taken to prevent contamination

(AP) -- The top Veterans Affairs official in Miami said Tuesday she has taken steps locally to prevent the kind of problems that exposed patients to contaminated medical equipment at VA hospitals in three states.

Medicine & Health / Other

created May 12, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Advance in bowel cancer test research

(PhysOrg.com) -- Australian researchers have developed gene expression biomarkers which can accurately discriminate pre-cancerous and cancerous colorectal growths from non-cancerous controls.

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Jun 04, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Less invasive CT-scan based colorectal cancer screening method shows good accuracy

Computed tomographic (CT) colonography may offer patients at increased risk of colorectal cancer an alternative to colonoscopy that is less-invasive, is better-tolerated and has good diagnostic accuracy, according to a study ...

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Jun 17, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Colonoscopy

Colonoscopy is the endoscopic examination of the large colon and the distal part of the small bowel with a CCD camera or a fiber optic camera on a flexible tube passed through the anus. It may provide a visual diagnosis (e.g. ulceration, polyps) and grants the opportunity for biopsy or removal of suspected lesions.

Virtual colonoscopy, which uses 2D and 3D imagery reconstructed from computed tomography (CT) scans or from nuclear magnetic resonance (MR) scans, is also possible, as a totally non-invasive medical test, although it is not standard and still under investigation regarding its diagnostic abilities. Furthermore, virtual colonoscopy does not allow for therapeutic maneuvers such as polyp/tumor removal or biopsy nor visualization of lesions smaller than 5 millimeters. If a growth or polyp is detected using CT colonography, a standard colonoscopy would still need to be performed.

Colonoscopy can remove polyps as small as one millimeter or less. Once polyps are removed, they can be studied with the aid of a microscope to determine if they are precancerous or not.

Colonoscopy is similar to but not the same as sigmoidoscopy, the difference being related to which parts of the colon each can examine. While colonoscopy allows an examination of the entire colon (measuring four to five feet in length), sigmoidoscopy allows doctors to view only the final two feet of the colon. A sigmoidoscopy is often used as a screening procedure for a full colonoscopy, in many instances in conjunction with a fecal occult blood test (FOBT), which can detect the formation of cancerous cells throughout the colon. Other times, a sigmoidoscopy is preferred to a full colonoscopy in patients having an active flare of ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease to avoid perforation of the colon. Additionally, surgeons have lately been using the term pouchoscopy to refer to a colonoscopy of the ileo-anal pouch.

For more information about Colonoscopy, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.