Celebrity Actors Film Their Colonoscopies to Bring Awareness

Sept. 14, 2022 — Actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are taking up completely different roles: starring in a brand new marketing campaign to lift consciousness in regards to the significance of screening for colon most cancers.

Using some humor to focus on a really severe subject, the 2 Hollywood stars filmed their very own colonoscopies. Importantly, each Reynolds and McElhenney are 45 years previous, the brand new age at which many main medical organizations now suggest males with common danger get a primary colonoscopy.

During the filming of the Lead From Behind marketing campaign, Reynolds came upon docs recognized and eliminated a polyp, or precancerous lesion, that would have developed into one thing extra severe over time. McElhenny’s physician discovered three polyps and eliminated them as effectively. The findings underscore the significance of screening males at common danger for colorectal most cancers, together with youthful males.

Gastroenterologists are applauding Reynolds and McElhenney for utilizing their superstar to point out how colonoscopy may be each straightforward and lifesaving.

“I thought Ryan and Rob did a fantastic job,” says David A. Johnson, MD, a gastroenterologist in non-public observe in Norfolk, VA, who has labored on nationwide colon most cancers tips for the final 20 years.

An essential take-home message is that colonoscopy “is really the best test for screening because both of them had polyps,” Johnson says. The premise of screening is to detect any potential points earlier than they trigger most cancers, he says.

Rajesh N. Keswani, MD, agrees in regards to the significance of the marketing campaign. “Overall, the message was incredibly effective. Everyone involved from the celebrities to the clinicians did a great job ensuring that all the important points were touched upon.”

“Beyond saying that colonoscopy is easy, they prove it by showing the patients laughing and eating after the procedure,” says Keswani, a gastroenterologist and medical director of high quality and integration for the Northwestern Medicine Digestive Health Center in Chicago.

Reynolds, star of the “Deadpool” motion pictures, and McElhenney, who created and starred within the TV present “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” let their comedic chops shine, says Jessica Bernica, MD, assistant professor of drugs – gastroenterology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

“I think this video is great. Not only does it share a very meaningful message about the importance of colon cancer screening, but what isn’t amusing about watching Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney wake up from anesthesia?” she says.

Bernica praised the marketing campaign for highlighting the youthful really helpful age for colonoscopy, the power of the process to detect and take away precancerous polyps, and that it’s a “simple and routine procedure not to be feared.”

“I’d also highlight that both Ryan and Rob had great bowel preps, a crucial component to an effective screening colonoscopy.”

The ‘Couric Effect’

Reynolds and McElhenny might have put their very own twist on it, however they aren’t the primary celebrities to make use of their platform to lift consciousness about colon most cancers.

“This really dates back to when Katie Couric did this after she lost her husband Jay Monahan,” Johnson says. The impression was so dramatic on colonoscopy screening, it’s known as The Couric Effect.

There is a considerable amount of information displaying that comparable campaigns can enhance colon most cancers screening charges, most notably when Couric televised her colonoscopy to successfully promote colon most cancers screening, Keswani stated.

Will Smith additionally shared an “incredibly detailed documentary in his journey through colonoscopy” after he turned 50, Johnson says. In I Vlogged My Colonoscopy, Smith finds out from his physician that they discovered a polyp in his cecum, a pouch that connects the small gut to the colon. The video on YouTube has been seen greater than 4 million instances.

“Then there was Chadwick Boseman. He had very early colon cancer, at age 43, and the world grappled with the unexpected loss,” Johnson says of the Black Panther star who died from the illness.

The COVID Effect

The timing of the Lead From Behind marketing campaign is crucial too, Johnson says, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic precipitated many individuals to delay well being screenings, together with colonoscopies. As a consequence, he says, “we’re seeing an increase in colon cancer.”

“This is a good wake-up call that we should be proactive,” he says.

Johnson identified that at-home colon most cancers assessments detect when somebody already has most cancers. In distinction, colonoscopy is about screening early to stop most cancers, though biopsies taken throughout a colonoscopy can be utilized for detection as effectively.

Sparking a Conversation

The consideration that celebrities can convey to colon most cancers can assist begin conversations. “This kind of campaign is such a great way to raise awareness and normalize an aspect of preventative health care that many people would probably shy away from talking about openly,” Bernica says.

Colorectal most cancers is the third commonest most cancers recognized within the U.S. and is preventable, however by essentially the most not too long ago reported National Institutes of Health statistics in 2019, solely about 67% of adults ages 50 to 75 had acquired screening, Bernica says. “Hopefully this kind of message can be the impetus to push those who haven’t yet been screened to do so.”

To Johnson, celebrities like Reynolds and McElhenney who step outdoors their regular day-to-day lives to focus on an important public well being message develop into greater than celebrities. “This really changes a star to a superstar,” he says.