/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/WMLJBH66DZSCXTJRXDLTBNZYJE.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1 "They warn about the dangers of not carrying out routine medical checks for fear of the coronavirus")
The health system exhibits a paradox: as it goes through its most critical moment in containing the coronavirus, its hospitals and guards look half empty. Patients who must attend other pathologies prefer to protect themselves and not attend due to the risk of contagion.
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In recent days, specialists in the sector stressed the importance of not neglecting other diseases, that these omissions can also lead to deaths. Dr. Luis Caro, CEO of GEDyT (Gastroenterology diagnosis and treatment) is one of the references who spoke on the matter.
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“It doesn’t have to be one thing or the other. It must be one thing ‘and’ the other. As health professionals, we fully understand patients’ fear of certain diseases, but we are also the first to transmit tranquility and information in such circumstances.. At this very special moment, the control of pre-existing pathologies and the prevention of future diseases are essential, ”he said.
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Caro pointed out that, as health professionals, they understand the risks that Covid-19 implies, but that there is an even greater danger in neglecting other conditions. “We are also the first to realize the importance and seriousness of neglecting other health entities as or more significant. The periodic health examination or queo health check ’is usually a frequent reason for medical consultation. It is transcendental to understand the importance of these exams, which constitute the foundations of preventive medicine, the cheapest medicine.“He remarked.
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For the specialist, prevention can be defined on three levels:
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-Primary: it is the reduction of risk factors before the disease appears. Decrease incidence.
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-High school: it is the detection of a disease to reverse it or delay its appearance and improve the prognosis. Prevalence decreases.
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-Tertiary: Consists of minimizing the future negative effects of a disease or condition on health.
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The doctor, who is also the director of the UBA Digestive Endoscopy Specialists Career, focused on the colon cancer, a condition that places Argentina among the countries with the highest incidence in Latin America.
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“In our country, it ranks second in death from cancer after the prostate and breast. The whys are various. On the one hand, our food culture: roasted fats, reduced fiber intake, plus sedentary lifestyle, tobacco, alcohol or European genetics. There is the cocktail. Almost a collective dies per day. With the quarantine that statistic is maintained ”he explained.
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Caro pointed out that, with radiotherapy, chemo and surgery taken on time, “survival is high”, but that preventive medicine is needed for this.
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What are the methods to prevent colon cancer? Population tests using fecal occult blood and immunological tests. The positives reach about 10% of the population. Failing that, a colonoscopy can detect the cancer-precursor polyp or the early-stage polyp (when there are no symptoms or signs).
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What do they look for in those analyzes? Small lesions called “polyps”. The transformation of polyps or adenoma to carcinoma is a very slow process, which usually lasts approximately 10 years. Colonoscopy is the only method that allows not only diagnosis, but also treatment of colonic polyps, and perhaps for 5 or 10 years the colonoscopy should not be repeated, said the doctor.
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Other probable oversights
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The gastroenterologist pointed out several pathologies that should not be neglected in quarantine. He recommended that patients with symptoms such as anemia undergo a laboratory analysis, capable of showing if it is caused by pathologies of the digestive tract. Therefore, he said, anemia is a clear reason for consultation with the gastroenterologist.
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The suspicion of celiac disease is usually a reason to consult a specialist preventively as well. Mainly those patients who belong to the group at risk of suffering from this disease. That is, first-degree relatives of celiac (parents, siblings and children). In them, the prevalence of the disease ranges between 5 and 15%.
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In turn, patients with advanced liver fibrosis or cirrhosis, who have not yet undergone high endoscopy to detect esophageal-gastric varices, should consult their doctors. Similarly, carriers of cirrhosis with a history of endoscopic treatment of varicose veins, with inflammatory bowel diseases, ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease under treatment and who are more than 2 to 3 years without surveillance.
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