It’s a ‘silent disease’ that continues to affect little ones, says Harvard expert

In accordance with American Cancer SocietyIn recent decades, advances have been made in the early detection and treatment of cancer. However, A new report shows alarming trends in colorectal cancer rates among young people.

“Researchers are very interested in the birth effect and the potential role of environmental factors,” says expert Kimmy Ng.

Kimmy Ng, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and founding director of the Dana-Farber Colorectal Cancer Center, has been watching this trend closely and explains in an interview with The Harvard Gazette that there is no clear reason. this.

Global phenomenon

In countries with higher socioeconomic levels where colorectal cancer screening programs exist, The incidence is declining rapidly among people over 50 years of age.

The most alarming thing is that for people under 50 years of age the curve goes in the opposite direction, i.e. increasing number of young cases of gastrointestinal cancer in all parts of the world.

The most pronounced increase is observed in young people, from 20 to 30 yearswho are not eligible to take the exam as it only starts at the age of 45/50.

However, There is an urgent need to better understand risk factors and underlying causes. Therefore, people aged 20 to 30 years who are at high risk are advised to undergo screening tests earlier.

For men under 50 years old, Colorectal cancer is currently the leading cause of cancer mortality, superior to central nervous system tumors and lung cancer.

In women under 50, it is now the second leading cause of death from cancer. These numbers are alarming and experts are working hard to understand why this happens.

Possible real culprits

Since these cancers mostly occur in younger populations, it leads researchers to suspect a recent change in environmental exposure or combination of exposures.

The main hypothesis is that some As yet undetected environmental influences affect people at an early age. Exposure may occur in utero, during childhood or adolescence.

“The main hypothesis is that some as yet undetected environmental influence influences people early in life,” explains the Harvard Gazette.

This study focused on known risk factors such as diet and lifestyle, regardless of age. many of these cancers are associated with obesity.

However, Dr. Kimmy also emphasizes that most of the clinic’s patients are not obese. Many of them are marathon runners and eat very healthy diets and eat organic foods.

Therefore, it is unknown whether these are simply factors related to diet and lifestyle, or other factors in our environment. such as contaminants and preservatives in our products.

One more point that This study observes maternal influences that are passed on to the fetus while it is in the womb. Because maternal factors can also influence future health risks.

A study was conducted on the link between breastfeeding during childhood and the development of colorectal cancer, and researchers found that breastfeeding during childhood reduced the risk of developing this type of cancer. Scientists were surprised: They want to encourage breastfeeding because it has many other health benefits.