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Each year over 14 million healthy Americans are getting screened for
colon cancer. Of these, according to the report “Complications of
Colonoscopy in an Integrated Health Care Delivery System” by the Annals
of Internal Medicine, an estimated 70,000 (0.5%) are killed or injured
by colonoscopy-related complications. This figure is higher than the
total number of annual deaths from colon cancer itself, 22% higher.
The number of casualties above doesn't include deferred complications
from colon prep and general anesthesia, such as kidney failure, stroke,
heart attack, pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, intestinal obstruction, and
numerous
others. Nor does it include the
increased risk of all other cancers from radiation exposure caused by
virtual colonoscopies. Thus, if
you are close to or past 50, and have been considering screening
colonoscopy, the next 9 minutes may save your life and prevent
other cancers:
Part I. The Anatomy Of A Deadly Deception
Problems watching? View on
YouTube. Read transcript.
Key Highlights From Part I:
 Dramatic increase in the
incidence of colorectal cancer. Despite tens of millions of
screening colonoscopies performed between the years 2000 and 2007,
the annual incidence of
colorectal cancer in the United States increased by about 30,000 more
cases.
More polyps are missed than
found.
Up
to a third of all colonoscopies routinely miss polyps and cancerous tumors.
According to the report I cited at the beginning of this page, practically 100% of all
polyps are missed in the right (ascending) colon.
Increased cancer risk from
radiation. X-ray exposure
from a single virtual colonoscopy increases one’s lifetime risk of cancer by
20%.
Virtual colonoscopies are now recommended every 5 years. By age 70 one’s
risk of developing any other form of cancer grows to 100%. Killing you with
another form of cancer before the colon gets affected is one hell-of-the-way
to “prevent” colon cancer.
Polypectomy doesn't prevent
cancers. According to the research published
back in 2006, the screened patients
in all of the studies developed colorectal cancer “at the same rate as would
be expected in the general population without screening” in the next
few years, even though they have removed all found polyps.
No clinical research to
support the rationale of colonoscopy screening. According to the American Cancer
Society, up till now (that’s in 2009) “…There
are no prospective randomized controlled trials of screening colonoscopy for
the reduction in incidence of or mortality from colorectal cancer.”
In other words, the recommendation to undergo colonoscopy screening is based
entirely on its income potential, not proven health benefits.
No clinical research to
support the effectiveness of virtual colonoscopies. The National Cancer Institute is
even more explicit: “…it is not yet
known [in 2008] for certain whether colonoscopy can help reduce the number
of deaths from colorectal cancer.” and “Whether virtual colonoscopy
can reduce the number of deaths from colorectal cancer is not yet known.”
Part II. Turning A Probable Death Sentence Into A Manageable Risk
View on
YouTube. Read transcript.
Key Highlights From Part II:
Overblown risk of colorectal
cancer death. The risk of colorectal cancer is exaggerated for
commercial purposes. Even a person in a high-risk group is 12 times as
likely to die from heart disease; 10 times — from any other cancer, 6 times
— from a medical error, 3 times from stroke, and twice as likely to die from
an accident.
A large scale investigation of
colonoscopy screening demonstrated its complete futility. The 18 years long Minnesota Colon
Cancer Control Study included 46 plus thousand patients between the ages of
50 and 80. It demonstrated only a
0.6% reduction in the incidence of colorectal cancer. Statistically
speaking, this difference is even less than the chance outcome of one
thousand coin flips.
Colonoscopy screening
increases mortality from all other causes, research shows. The Telemark Polyp Study I demonstrated a
157% increase in
mortality among screened patients vis-à-vis unscreened controls. The
decrease in the incidence of colorectal cancers was only… 2%, which,
statistically speaking again, is essentially none at all.
(In the video I mistakenly indicate 57% increase in mortality instead of
157% — KM)
Colorectal cancer is a
lifestyle disease. The majority of colorectal cancers aren't
hereditary, and the majority of people in the high-risk group never
develop one either. This means that colorectal cancer is connected to
lifestyle factors just like lung cancer is connected to one's smoking.
Part III. Why Screening Colonoscopy Increases the Risk of Colorectal Cancer
Watch on
YouTube. Read transcript.
Key Highlights From Part III:
● An
estimated 95% of all polyps are benign, they will never become
cancers, so removing them makes just as much sense as zapping the moles
off your buttocks to prevent melanoma.
● Not all
colorectal cancers are preceded by detectable polyps. It is believed an
even larger share of colon cancers start from flat lesions that no one
is suggesting to remove, even though they are considered five time
as cancerous as large polyps.
● Increased
cancer risk. Removing polyps or even doing biopsies releases
cancer cells into the blood stream and the colon's lumen. In turn, these
cells may seed all other cancers throughout the body.
● Unreliable
procedure. Even the most thorough endoscopists may miss up to
30% of detectable polyps. The less rigorous routinely miss up to 60%,
including actual cancer tumors. All of them, regardless of skill or
attention, miss 100% of polyps in the right colon.
● Unnecessary
procedure. The average age
for colorectal cancer diagnosis is 72. Commencing invasive screening and
polypectomies in asymptomatic people at age 50 is just as absurd as
taking contraceptives after menopause;
● High risk
of internal bleeding. Polypectomy profoundly increases patients'
risk of death from hard to detect internal bleeding which may lead to
ischemic stroke, myocardial ischemia, cardiac arrest, or sudden cardiac
death.
● No
demonstrable benefit. If polypectomies were, indeed, effective,
with about half of Americans past age fifty getting screened, we should
have enjoyed at least a 50% reduction in the incidence and mortality of
colon cancer. Instead, we have a 22% increase in the incidence of
colorectal cancer. Most likely, this increase is related to
polypectomies.
Part IV. Why Screening Colonoscopy Increases Mortality?
Watch on
YouTube. Read transcript.
Key Highlights From Part IV:
●
Irreversible kidney damage. Over 85,000 people die annually from
kidney failure — that is almost 50% more than from colorectal cancer.
Many of these deaths have been precipitated by a careless and damaging
colon prep.
● Severe
dehydration. Colonoscopy prep causes severe dehydration. It may
result in dizziness, syncope, ischemic stroke, blood clotting, sudden
cardiac death, a fall or an accident, medication overdose, and other
complications. The death rate related to these side effects is not
known.
● Chronic
bowel disorders. Bowel movement disruption following colonoscopy
commonly leads to chronic constipation, severe diarrhea, diverticulitis,
and bowel obstruction. All of these conditions constitute a primary
cause of inflammatory bowel disease, that alone increases the risk of
colon cancer by 32 times!
● Severe
heart disease. The confirmed rate of severe cardiovascular risk
from general anesthesia for low-risk surgical procedures, such as
colonoscopy, ranges from 0.27% to 1.1% within the first six days after
the surgery.
● Blood
clotting and pulmonary embolism. Deep vein thrombosis and
pulmonary embolism is a common side effect related to general
anesthesia. Pulmonary embolism causes or contributes to up to 200,000
deaths annually in the United States.
● Chest
infection and pneumonia. An estimated 25% of all people develop
chest infections after general anesthesia, and many older people die
weeks or months later from acute pneumonia. Mortality rate from
pneumonia is 5%, and about 60,000 people die annually — more than from
colorectal cancer.
●
Complications and medical errors related to colonoscopy. At
least 70,000 patients get injured by colonoscopy according to actual
reports. The unreported injury rate may be close to 280,000 or 2%.
● Increased
risk of all other cancers. The potential long-term death toll
from all other cancers caused by polypectomy-related contamination, and
radiation exposure from virtual colonoscopies — is in the millions.
● No
measurable impact relative to effort. Even according to Katie
Couric, who has a penchant for exaggeration, colorectal cancer mortality
is down just 2,500 a year.
Additional Reading:
The following sections expand on above videos with practical advice and additional commentaries:
»
Side Effects Of Screening Colonoscopies
»
Frequently Asked Questions About Screening Colonoscopies
» Open Letter To Ms. Couric
»
Appeal to Barack Obama, President Of The
United States
»
Colorectal Cancer Risk Factors
»
Colorectal Cancer Prevention
You can also access all these sections from the top and
bottom menu, and selected sidebars.
Author's note
A wealthy acquaintance
of mine died at age 56 from brain cancer. His brain tumor was
probably contributed to by earlier treatment for colon cancer.
In turn, his colon cancer was probably caused by frequent
virtual colonoscopies and
coronary angiograms — a
preventative computer-assisted x-ray (CT scan) of, respectively,
the colon and heart.
With a strong conviction that money
can buy just about anything, a $1000 scan to him was less than $1 to most
people. So, why not, as he once told me, buy some “peace of mind,” right?
Apparently, not...
I wrote my books and developed this
site for people who still value a buck and wish to prevent common
gastrointestinal disorders and escape colorectal cancer without relying on
cancer-causing screening colonoscopies, addictive laxatives, harmful fiber
supplements, ineffective and deadly drugs, and irreversible,
complication-prone surgeries.
The information on this site complements and
expands the content of
Gut Sense and Fiber Menace. Both books evolved from
my extensive research in the field of
forensic nutrition. Unlike orthodox nutrition, which
studies and promotes 'health food,' forensic nutrition studies
why people get sick and die from a presumably 'healthy' diet.
Konstantin Monastyrsky
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