Rising rates of colon cancer in young people around the world reflect increases in the number leading sedentary lifestyles and rising consumption of ultra-processed food. - South China Morning Post
HONG KONG (Business Insider/SCMP): Colon cancer is quickly becoming a young person’s disease in countries around the world, rich and poor.
A study released recently in the medical journal Lancet Oncology documents rising rates of early-onset colorectal cancer across rich, highly industrialised parts of North America and Europe, and in middle-income areas worldwide.
“We found this trend is not just about high-income, Western countries,” lead study author and cancer researcher Hyuna Sung says. “It reaches the parts we didn’t see before, such as South America and Asia.”
From 2013 to 2017, colon cancer rates in young people went up in 27 of 50 countries Sung’s team examined worldwide.
Colon cancer rates for people under the age of 50 are rising in many countries.
Although the study only includes one country in Africa, Uganda, it is still some of the most recent, comprehensive data available on colon cancer rates around the globe. And it shows colon cancer rates increasing in young people living in countries like Turkey, Ecuador, and Chile.
The trend is not hitting all countries equally, though.
In the United States, rates for older adults are declining while early-onset colon cancer rates continue to rise to unprecedented levels. There are outliers in the data, like Italy, Spain and Latvia, where the rates appear relatively unchanged year over year.
Scientists are starting to uncover clues about how modern diets and lifestyles play a role.
“[The results of] this study are quite expected,” associate professor Ganesh Halade from USF Heart Health Institute in the US state of Florida, who was not involved in the study, said, noting the rising rates across several continents. “Fundamentally, our diet has changed.”
We need to reconsider our sleep, diet and exercise, says Ganesh Halade from USF Heart Health Institute in the US. - Photo: USF Heart Health Institute/Allison Long
Halade’s own colon cancer research, published this month, identified how ultra-processed foods can fuel colon cancer, wreaking havoc on the immune system and increasing inflammation.
“It’s very obvious the way that this disease trend is going on right now,” he said. “We need to go back and consider our diet, sleep, and exercise.”
It still seems the richer a country gets, the more young people are at risk of developing colon cancer. Countries with some of the steepest gains in under-50 colon cancer cases in recent years include Australia, New Zealand, the US, South Korea and Japan.
“Children and adolescents in these highly industrialised and urbanised countries were probably among the earliest to [adopt] detrimental dietary exposures and sedentary lifestyles associated with economic wealth,” the study authors wrote.
A new study documents rising rates of early-onset colorectal cancer across middle-income areas worldwide. - SCMP
In other words, driving around in a car, sitting at a desk, and eating more convenience food every day for decades on end may not be great for our overall health, and might have some connections to these cancer trends.
Once inflammation skyrockets, Halade said, cancer has an easier time sprouting and thriving. His antidotes? More sleep, movement, and home-cooked food.
There seems to be a pronounced uptick in the incidence of early-onset colon cancer among people born after 1950, suggesting that there are lifestyle and environmental exposures affecting Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z in ways their baby boomer parents and predecessors did not experience.
At the same time, thanks to more cancer screenings and less smoking, colon cancer rates in older adults are going down in many rich countries around the world, including the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, South Korea, and Israel.
Snack foods tend to be heavily processed and high in salt, sugar, and fat. - SCMP
Another new study released this month suggests that our modern diets, filled with confectionery, sugary drinks and processed foods, do not have enough of the healthy fats and nutrients our bodies need to keep cancer-driving inflammation in check.
Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as leafy greens, fatty fish, nuts and seeds can help prevent the inflammatory processes that over time lead to cancer.
But confectionery, chips, sausages, and packaged cakes seem to fuel tumours, while crowding out more unprocessed, healthier choices in our diets.
Still, food cannot be the whole story. It’s clear that a family history of colon cancer, as well as genetics and environment, have key roles in your level of colon cancer risk.
Experts are looking into environmental factors like air pollution, microplastics, and more sedentary lifestyles for clues about what else may be driving the increase in young colon cancer. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
