The Colonoscopy Song - March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

Peter Yarrow of the musical group Peter, Paul and Mary appeared on the CBS Early Show to sing a song he composed about his own colonoscopy:



In the video below, Dr. Paul Limburg, a Mayo Clinic Gastroenterologist, provides background on colorectal cancer and the screening methods:

Related reading:

Cleveland Clinic Colorectal Cancer Risk Assessment Tool. Get your score in 2 minutes (free).
Colon cancer and colonoscopy - Cleveland Clinic YouTube playlist 
Dr. Oz Has Colon Cancer Scare During Taping of His Colonoscopy for the TV Show http://goo.gl/F4CX

Fear was the No. 1 reason people gave to explain why they hadn’t gone in for a colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer. NYTimes.

Get your colonoscopy in the morning - each hour brings a 4% reduction in the number of polyps the doctors spotted http://goo.gl/2FGQt

Dr. Oz: What I Learned from My Colon Cancer Scare http://goo.gl/q7rjD
Colonoscopy Developer Dies at 94 - NYTimes http://goo.gl/iBnOp - Dr. Wolff was unconventional and surely made headlines in his day.

17% of U.S. hospitals now provide virtual colonoscopy

Medicare does not currently reimburse routine screening with virtual colonoscopy, but it does cover evaluations with "regular" colonoscopy.

References:

Virtual Colonoscopy Gains in Popularity. Is It Right for You? TIME.
Colonoscopy Developer Dies at 94 - NYTimes http://goo.gl/iBnOp - Dr. Wolff was unconventional and surely made headlines in his day.
When President Obama underwent his first-ever colon cancer screening last year, he chose virtual colonoscopy. USA Today.
Cleveland Clinic Colorectal Cancer Risk Assessment Tool. Get your score in 2 minutes (free).

Comments from Twitter:

@DrSilge (Robert Silge, MD): What are your thoughts? Inability to biopsy, extra radiation... I don't see benefit. W/ fam hist of Colon ca, I won't be signing up.

@DrVes: Correct, "physical" colonoscopy is the procedure of choice rather than the virtual one. In any case, the preparation is the toughest part and is the same for both procedures.