New Medical Math - Risk Assessment for Low Risk Patients

For one thing, the #WFPB diet is a low risk life style in respect of various cancers, and in particular the risk of colorectal cancer is much reduced because o f the high fiber content of the diet, not to mention copious antioxidants, so much so that the calculation of risks for your next colonoscopy changes.

Note what Dr. John McDougall has to say on the topic:

I do recommend conservative screening for colorectal cancer, because almost all of my patients have been following the Western diet for their entire life (until we met). I have recommended checking the stool for blood, beginning around age 60 years (testing every other year, at most, until age 75) and/or one sigmoid examination at around age 60 years. I have strongly recommended against colonoscopy for screening. Note that the recommendations I have been making for decades are almost the exact ones announced this year (2016) by The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care.

John McDougall, MD, July 2016 Newsletter

 There is really nothing to add to that, clearly, if you are following a #WFPB diet and are past age 60 or so, the standard recommendation of a colonoscopy every five years, is an $3,000 waste of money and an unnecessary incremental medical risk. Note that WebMD calls it a fairly safe exam, noting that On average just 2 serious complications occur for every 1,000 procedures. In short, you have a 1 in 500 chance of serious complications now, but if you are on a #WFPB diet, your risk of colon cancer is much reduced, so that is why McDougall recommends the low risk light screenings. An analysis for blood in the stool is about an $40 issue, and a sigmoidoscopy about an $200 procedure.

Dr. McDougall's video, Cancer Screening is a Scam, is a classic.