Market Overview
Though few people like to talk about them, hemorrhoids are extremely common. By age 50, about half of the population will have experienced this potentially painful condition, which results from an increase in pressure inside the veins of the rectum. Common causes include constipation, pregnancy, childbirth, obesity, heavy lifting, sitting for long periods and diarrhea.
According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the prevalence of hemorrhoids in the United States is 10.4 million people, with approximately 1 million new cases diagnosed every year. Yet only 3.5 million of the 10.4 million people with the condition seek medical treatment, making it a dramatically under-treated problem.
Despite the number of patients who suffer in silence, more than 50 million hemorrhoid banding procedures are performed each year, making it the most common procedure performed worldwide. As the baby boomer population ages, and awareness of non-surgical treatment options grows, it is expected that the number of banding procedures will rise.
That’s a good thing for a number of reasons. For one, more patients will enjoy a permanent cessation of symptoms that may have plagued them for years. Additionally, proper treatment of hemorrhoids allows for accurate screening for colorectal cancer with a fecal occult blood test (FOBT). That’s because it removes hemorrhoids as a cause of blood in the stool.
Expected to cause more than 50,000 deaths during 2008, colorectal cancer is known as a “silent killer.” Early detection is truly the key with this often symptom-less disease, as the five-year relative survival rate for people whose cancer is found and treated early is very good—about 90%. Yet only 39% of colorectal cancers are found at that early stage.
At CRH Medical Corporation, we aim to change that by encouraging every patient who walks through our Center doors to undergo a FOBT screening at the completion of treatment.
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