Statistics gives you only a slice of the picture. Colon cancer or colorectal cancer is the case in point. According to the latest statistics, the rate of new diagnoses and deaths from colon cancer has dramatically fallen in the last few decades. Though it’s definitely good news but the increasing cases of colon cancer in young adults are definitely a worrying statistics.
The Trend
A trend that has been a big concern for the oncologists at the hospital for best cancer treatment in Kolkata is prevalence of colon cancer in older people. More than 65% of colon cancer cases are diagnosed in people aged 65 or more.
Thanks to the growing health consciousness among people, the number of smokers is on the wane and more people are undergoing screening. These are contributing to the dramatic decline in the number of colon cancer cases.
Unfortunately, the number of colon cancer cases in young adults has registered an alarming increase in the recent time. Like in many types of cancer, African Americans are more prone to developing colon cancer than their white counterparts.
What Are the Reasons?
Research done so far to find out the causes is quite vast and impressive. Though not a specific reason has been identified behind the growing cases and concerns, it is reasonably speculated that the statistics has something to do with LIFESTYLE.
Dr. Arnab Gupta, an eminent oncologist, surgeon and the director of the SGCCRI (Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre and Research Institute) claims that cancer is preventable to a large extent (40-50%) only if we adopt a healthy lifestyle. While echoing the same thoughts, Toufic Kachaamy, MD, Interventional Program Specialist at CTCA® Phoenix, says that fast-food diet among the young Americans is causing a massive damage to their health. We can observe the same food habit among the Gen Y in India.
The healthy diets that we were so used to in the past have unfortunately undergone horrible makeover after they are ‘industrialized’. For example, we can make French fries at home. Fried things are definitely not good for health. Still they are thousands times better than what you eat at restaurants.
According to research, if you take fast food meals once in a blue moon, it won’t have an adverse impact on your health. But if it becomes a habit, it could seriously affect your colon’s balance of beneficial and harmful bacteria, also called gut flora, microbiota or microbiome. Imbalance in microbiota is associated with Crohn’s disease, heart problems and multiple sclerosis. Though studies are yet to establish the link between the gut flora’s role and colon cancer, it is highly suspected that the imbalance causes obesity, one of the major causes for developing colon cancer.
Other risk factors include:
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Smoking
- Alcohol consumption
In some cases, colon cancer is caused by genetic factor. An inherited gene mutation increases the chance of developing many types of cancer, including colon cancer. As per several studies, 15-30% of colon cancers in the young people may have the gene factor.