I will have to reserve some thoughts on this as I am not sure I could crap on demand. Plus they may be heralding this as the latest and greatest, but to me it is a little like shutting the barn door after the horse is out. I think I would rather have the colonoscopy done prior to cancer than rely on this test. But others may prefer the test if it is indeed successful.
The researchers at the University of Missouri seem quite proud of themselves for their discovery, but I doubt that it will or should eliminate colonoscopies altogether. What has not been answered – will this discover colon cancer before or after it has developed in humans? If after, they they could be barking up the wrong colon (pun intended). Presently, the researchers are claiming before the development of colon cancer.
The researchers may be onto something if they can detect the bacterium that leads to colon cancer before cancer develops. They are making only claims at this point about not needing to stress people and that they can detect things much earlier than before, but they will need to determine the effectiveness on humans and not animals.
They are very probably correct that many people put off having a colonoscopy for longer than they should. Whether this test will encourage people to have the test earlier will remain to be seen. While I will be happy to continue to have a colonoscopy done, I can only hope this is not just another attempt to blow smoke up our backsides.
Read the article from the press release here.
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