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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- There may be a way to screen for both colorectal cancer and osteoporosis at the same time.
A new study from the University of California San Francisco finds computed tomography (CT) colonography -- or virtual colonoscopy -- can be a one-stop screening for the two diseases.
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CT colonography detects pre-cancerous polyps in the large intestine. It starts with an abdominal CT scan, which makes cross-sectional images of all parts of the abdomen including the spine. Computer software then arranges the images to show an inside or fly-through view of the colon.
In the study, researchers used the same CT images with another software application to create three-dimensional images of the spine -- this let them measure bone mineral density to see if it was low. This is usually associated with osteoporosis, a disease where bones become fragile and more likely to break.
Researchers looked at the results of 35 patients who had CT colonography and a standard bone density screening (DEXA) at the San Francisco Veterans Administration Hospital. There were 30 males and five females age 54 to 79 in the study.
Results show the bone density measurements from CT colonography were comparable to the DEXA results -- both identified osteoporotic bones.
CT colonography isnt a replacement for DEXA testing, but it could be a way to screen more people for osteoporosis, lead author Rizwan Aslam, M.B.Ch.B., University of California San Francisco, was quoted as saying. When an individual undergoes CT colonography, we can also obtain a bone density measurement with no additional radiation and at minimal cost.
10 million Americans over age 50 have osteoporosis. And about 34 million are at risk because they have low bone mass.
SOURCE: Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago, Illinois, November 30-December 5, 2008
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