When African Americans hear a positive message that emphasizes progress being made for blacks with colon cancer, they are much more likely to want to be screened.  On the other hand, negative messages that talk about their poorer outcomes make them less willing to have screening tests.

Health communications researchers at St. Louis University asked 300 African-Americans to read one of four mock news articles about colorectal cancer, chosen randomly.  Three messages were negative, emphasizing differences from whites. One focused on the progress that blacks were making surviving colorectal cancer.

Participants who read the positive article had more positive emotional reactions and more often said they wanted to be screened.  The negative articles had the opposite effect. Read the rest of this entry »

When researchers reviewed medical records for Medicaid-insured people over 50, they found that only about half had colorectal cancer screening recommended to them by their doctors.  But only 28 percent actually received screening.

Having an on-going relationship with a doctor (medical home) made a difference.  People who had been seeing their primary care doctor for more than five years were two and a half times more likely to have been screened. Read the rest of this entry »

People with a combination of three common medical conditions together known as metabolic syndrome have a greatly increased risk of colorectal cancer.  The three are hypertension, diabetes and elevated cholesterol.

Reviewing answers the the National Health Interview Survey, researchers found that people who reported metabolic syndrome conditions were almost twice as likely to have colorectal cancer.  Nearly 58,000 people were interviewed by the NHIS in 2002-2003.  Of those 1,200 had metabolic syndrome and 350 had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer.  Read the rest of this entry »

The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has updated their colorectal cancer screening recommendations.

Changes from the 2002 guidelines include recommendations not to routinely screen people over 75 and not to screen people over 85 at all. Decisions about screening between 76 and 85 need to be made in light of individual health, prior screening, and life expectancy.

The recommendations have dropped barium enema as a screening option. They do not include either CT colonography (CTC or so-called virtual colonoscopy) or DNA stool tests, saying that there was not enough current evidence to judge the harms and benefits of the new technology. Read the rest of this entry »

Screening people for colorectal cancer before they reach 65 and are eligible for Medicare could save millions of dollars of future Medicare costs according to a New York City study.

While Medicare covers the cost of screening colonoscopies, people need to be 65 to benefit.  Many uninsured adults from 50 to 64 have no way to get screened for colorectal cancer at all. Read the rest of this entry »