Faecal occult blood screening cuts colorectal cancer deaths; low vitamin D rarely looked like osteomalacia on blood tests

The edition in brief

A systematic review of population colorectal cancer screening with faecal occult blood tests found randomised trials of guaiac tests reduced colorectal cancer mortality (RR 0.89, 95% CI 0.84–0.94; 38 fewer deaths per 100,000 screened) but not all-cause mortality; observational FIT data suggested larger benefits with low certainty. In 423 Norwegians with a mean 25-hydroxyvitamin D of 34 nmol/L, none had the full biochemical pattern suggestive of osteomalacia, and the most permissive pattern affected only 8.3%, though vitamin D supplementation did lower PTH and alkaline phosphatase. A cohort of 468,172 English patients with multimorbidity found higher attainment of multimorbidity-specific quality indicators was associated with fewer elective admissions and outpatient visits the following year in those with three or more conditions. In a community screening study of 117 participants, AI-enhanced handheld ultrasound detected 94.8% of carotid plaques against 87.6% for standard handheld imaging.