Female Colonoscopy Is Harder, Hurts More, and Catches Less Than It Does for Men
Colonoscopy was not designed with women's bodies in mind, and the data reflects it. Women have anatomically longer, more redundant colons that make the procedure technically more difficult. They report more pain. Their colorectal lesions are harder to detect. And perhaps most critically, a negative colonoscopy after a positive stool test reduces subsequent colorectal cancer incidence in men but offers a much weaker, or even absent, protective effect in women. These aren't minor footnotes. They point to real, measurable gaps in how well colonoscopy serves half the population, from the moment of referral through follow-up.