The first medical news today: Many average-risk adults undergo screening with colonoscopy to prevent colon or rectal cancer. Some who undergo screening are found to have colon or rectal cancer and are treated immediately. However, some who undergo screening do not have either a healthy colon and rectum or colon or rectal cancer. Instead, they have an adenoma. An adenoma in the colon or rectum is a precursor of colon or rectal cancer. Therefore, the adenomas are removed immediately during the screening with colonoscopy. However, once a patient had developed an adenoma, there is an increased chance that the patient later will develop another adenoma in the colon or the rectum. Therefore, everybody agrees that another screening with colonoscopy should follow. The open question is, when. In five or ten years? This question is important. The reason is that screening with colonoscopy is an unpleasant procedure and most patients are not willing to undergo it without anaesthesia. Previous data and these new clinical studies from 2019 strengthen the case for a 10-year interval for follow-up colonoscopy in patients who had only one small adenoma or a few small adenomas during the original screening with colonoscopy.
The second medical news today: 25% of antibiotics inappropriate. At least 25% of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions filled in 2016 may have been unnecessary, researchers concluded, after analysing 15 million outpatient antibiotic prescriptions filled in 2016 for privately insured children and adults under age 65 years. It has been long known by doctors that many antibiotic prescriptions are inappropriate. However, there is no solution in sight until today. Inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions could cause a huge problem in the future, mainly, more and more multi-resistant bacteria.