Crucial medical tests have plummeted during the coronavirus outbreak according to a recent report.
Komodo Health, which has a large medical claims database, says that cervical cancer screenings fell by 68 percent, cholesterol panels were down 67 percent, and blood sugar tests to detect and manage diabetes fell 65 percent in the U.S.
Millions of Americans have postponed critical tests as residents obey stay-at-home orders, according to Fox News.
“We’re seeing a tremendous impact on preventative care,” said Komodo Health Chief Executive Dr. Arif Nathoo. “It speaks volumes as to how much COVID is impacting everyone’s health and wellness.”
The report showed that the steepest decline in screenings occurred in areas hardest hit by the virus. For example, in Manhattan, A1c blood tests, essential for diabetes management, fell by more than 90 percent.
Dr. David Tom Cooke, head of general thoracic surgery at UC Davis Health, told Reuters that while his cancer patients are getting treatment, he worries that new cancers will go undetected until they are more advanced and less treatable.
“We’re not doing cancer screenings, such as mammography for breast cancer, and lung cancer screening,” he said. “There is concern that we are delaying standard care of treatment for patients with potentially curable cancers.”
Experts say there are also economic repercussions as well as health related concerns about the reduced number of screenings. Routine office visits and diagnostic exams sustain many medical practices, especially in low-income and rural areas that were already struggling before the outbreak.
“If those practices shut down,” Ateev Mehrotra, healthcare policy associate professor at Harvard Medical School told Reuters, “then the access problems that already exist in those communities and the disparity in care, could be exacerbated.”
Lynn C. Allison ✉
Lynn C. Allison, a Newsmax health reporter, is an award-winning medical journalist and author of more than 30 self-help books.
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