Comment by solfox
4 hours ago
I don't buy their explaining away the effects of COVID by excluding 2020-2021. It was incredibly difficult to access routine medical care (especially colonoscopies!) during COVID. A post-COVID bump should be expected in the 1-2 years after normalization of medical care, when many people had previously skipped screenings. Let's see if the rise continues in 2024+ before drawing any conclusions.
(It doesn’t change your point, but amusingly) I’m 97% sure I caught my first COVID infection from… the admin/consenting clinic visit prior to a colonoscopy. :)
I'd expect increased colon cancer rates due to COVID for the rest of the 2020s, simply because screening is usually every 5-10 years and people probably just skipped their 2020-2022 appointment, giving more time for cancers to grow undetected. It's sorta like how measles is now epidemic because so many parents skipped their vaccinations from 2020-2022. It takes years for public health consequences of interruptions in medical care to show up.
Yes. Also exercise reduces the risk, and COVID has plausibly caused a long-term reduction in exercise levels.