A key habit boosts colorectal cancer survival rates — as docs see ‘tremendous increase' in young people with the disease
Nearly 53,000 Americans are expected to die of colorectal cancer this year, making it one of the deadliest cancers in the US. Though the death rate has been declining in older adults, it has been steadily rising among people younger than 55 since the 1990s.
Because of this worrisome trend, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) lowered its recommendation for starting colorectal cancer screening from age 50 to 45 in 2021. The American Cancer Society (ACS) made the same suggestion in 2018 for people at average risk for the disease.
4 Though the colorectal cancer death rate has been declining in older adults, it has been steadily rising among people younger than 55 since the 1990s.
ryanking999 – stock.adobe.com
New research out Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows the guidance is working. Colorectal cancer screening among Americans aged 45 to 49 rose by 62% from 2019 to 2023.
'It's not only thrilling to see the increase in colorectal cancer screening among younger adults, but also how it likely ties into rises in earlier stage diagnosis as noted in the other ACS-led paper,' said lead study author Jessica Star, an ACS associate scientist for cancer risk factors and screening surveillance research.
The increase in screenings appears to have paved the way for an uptick in diagnoses of early-stage colorectal cancer among 45- to 49-year-olds. Early stage typically means the disease hasn't spread beyond the colon or rectum.
Early-stage diagnoses in 45- to 49-year-olds rose from 11.7 cases per 100,000 people in 2021 to 17.5 cases per 100,000 people in 2022, according to a study also published Monday in JAMA.
4 Because of this concerning trend, the US Preventive Services Task Force lowered its recommendation for starting colorectal cancer screening from age 50 to 45 in 2021. A colonoscopy, a popular screening method, is shown here.
ShvedKristina – stock.adobe.com
Early detection can significantly improve survival rates and treatment outcomes.
'We still have a long way to go,' Star said. 'Screening for colorectal cancer in ages 45-49 remains suboptimal and has not increased equitably by both educational attainment and insurance status.'
Colonoscopies, when a doctor uses a long, thin, flexible tube to examine the colon for abnormalities, spiked 43% and stool-based testing jumped more than 5-fold from 2019 to 2023 in the 45 to 49 group.
Every racial and ethnic group underwent more screenings, as people without a high school diploma and uninsured people sat on the sidelines.
ACS warns that screening is more important than ever. Advanced-stage colorectal cancer has risen 1.7% to 2.9% annually since 2004 among adults younger than 45 and even more sharply in the past decade in people 45 to 54.
4 Scientists aren't exactly sure why colorectal cancer patients are getting younger. Several factors could be to blame.
Nadzeya – stock.adobe.com
'I've been in practice for 25 years, and I can tell you over the last 10 years and particularly over the last five years, we have seen a tremendous increase in cancer in young patients,' Dr. David Rivadeneira — director of the Northwell Health Cancer Institute at Huntington Hospital and a colorectal cancer specialist, who was not involved in the new research — told The Post.
'We never used to see this,' he added. 'This used to be a diagnosis you give to someone in their mid-50s, 60s, 70s or 80s.'
Scientists aren't exactly sure why colorectal cancer patients are getting younger. They have pointed the finger at the prevalence of obesity, sedentary lifestyles, the Western diet, excess sugar consumption and environmental factors such as pollutants in the air, soil and water.
Rivadeneira noted that he now recommends a colonoscopy for people with any concerning symptoms, no matter their age.
Common colorectal cancer symptoms include changes in bathroom habits, blood in stool, stomach pain or cramping, unexplained weight loss and fatigue.
Surgery is the primary treatment for most colon cancers, with survival rates influenced by the stage of the disease.
4 Common colorectal cancer symptoms include changes in bathroom habits, blood in stool, stomach pain or cramping, unexplained weight loss and fatigue.
ryanking999 – stock.adobe.com
Stage 1 colon cancer is curable 90% of the time with just surgery and no other treatment, Rivadeneira said.
Stage 2 — when the tumor is larger and has grown through the bowel wall but has not spread to nearby lymph nodes — has a survival rate of 80% to 85%.
'When you go to Stage 3, now it's spread to the lymph nodes, it drops down to the 60% mark,' Rivadeneira said.
'So the sooner the tumors are detected, the higher the cure rate and again, no need for chemotherapy or any additional treatment besides the surgery.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
2 minutes ago
- USA Today
Heidi Klum, 'deworming' and the truth about the 'parasite cleanse'
Heidi Klum doesn't trust her gut. In fact, she says it's full of worms, parasites and metal that she wants to remove right away using plant-forward treatments. The supermodel and "Project Runway" host, 52, told The Wall Street Journal that she was going on a "worm cleanse and parasite cleanse" to clear her body of infectious guests and metal. Her source? "Everything I'm getting on my Instagram feed." USA TODAY has reached out to Klum for comment. For an otherwise healthy person with access to good sanitation and clean water and no symptoms of parasitic infection, there's no evidence such a cleanse would make a difference, and especially using herbal remedies, according to Dr. Jeffrey Dvorin, an infectious diseases doctor at Boston Children's Hospital and associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. "If you're concerned and have symptoms, you should speak with your health care provider," Dvorin said. "These things can be tested, and safe and effective therapies delivered in a direct manner." 'There is no magic potion' A parasite is an organism that lives inside or on a host, harming its home as it feeds, according the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Parasites can include worms, which may or may not feed or hurt the host to survive, and can be found all over our bodies. These spread via contaminated water and inadequate sanitation, according to the Cleveland Clinic, and cause nasty disease, and even death, if symptoms aren't treated. Klum's claims are an important reminder that our guts are full of small organisms that are essential for health, too. While we can exercise caution for infection and manage our diets, we can't just wipe our systems clean, according to Isabelle Coppens, professor of parasitology at Johns Hopkins University. Environmental factors and diet influence how these things affect our bodies, and what's most important is taking steps to avoid unhealthy exposure. "There is no magic potion," said Coppens. Cleanses may inevitably strip the good microbiome, too, Dvorin said. And cleanses like Klum described can also cause dehydration or nausea, leading to adverse nutrient and electrolyte loss. Health: The truth about massages and flushing out toxins Further, it' not likely for Americans to have this kind of infection, Dvorin said. "It is unlikely a healthy person from a region of the world with good water, sanitation and hygiene would have a significant amount of infection," Dvorin said. And while Klum said people who eat raw things like sushi are susceptible to worms and parasites, Dvorin said U.S. restaurants typically freeze fish to kill anything that would cause illness. While eating undercooked food can slighly increase the risk of getting sick, sushi leading to parasites in "uncommon," Dvorin said. And the worm most commonly found in sushi, anisakis, is typically asymptomatic and doesn't replicate in humans, he said. Klum's heavily herbal regimen containing cloves and papaya seeds has not been studied in robust ways to suggest they're viable treatments, he said. Cloves and papaya seeds have been shown in limited research to have some efficacy against worms, Dvorin said. "There are lots of bioactive components in herbal substances and some of them do have activity in a laboratory setting however they currently don't have the robust evidence from placebo-controlled studies to support widespread use of them," Dvorin said. And concentrated clove in large quantities also poses a risk of neurotoxicity and liver toxicity, he said. "And there's less regulation of herbal supplementals, so it's hard to guarantee you know what you're getting," Dvorin said. Wellness from USA TODAY: Her doctor said her tumor was harmless, common among Black women. It was cancer. And what about Klum's take on metal? We all have metals in our bodies – for good reason: A balance of iron, magnesium, copper, potassium and other metals helps the body maintain, regulate and protect itself. Research shows too many healthy metals or overexposure to toxic metals, such as mercury or lead, can hurt our bodies. But it's important not to deprive ourselves of all metals entirely. "The idea of medicine to pull these metals out of our body needs to be done with supervision and for a specific reason, not just general health," Dvorin said. You likely don't need to panic scrub worms, parasites or metal from your body. If you're worried, go to your doctor and seek testing. And, in our digital world, it's especially important to get verified information from medical professionals, not social media, Dvorin said. "Overall there is really no robust evidence to suggest an otherwise healthy person has any benefit from deworming or taking parasitics."
New York Post
2 minutes ago
- New York Post
Debilitating illness once dismissed as ‘yuppie flu' actually has genetic causes: study
Tired all the time? It might be in your DNA. A new study has uncovered striking genetic differences in people suffering from a devastating illness that causes extreme exhaustion, chronic pain and brain fog that can last for months, years or even decades. Researchers are calling the discovery a 'wakeup call' that could finally shift public perception of the poorly understood condition, once dismissed as a 'fashionable form of hypochondria' and labeled the 'yuppie flu' by doctors, despite its often debilitating effects. 3 The condition disproportionately affects women around the world. Maridav – Chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis or ME/CFS, is believed to affect 67 million people worldwide — including an estimated 3.3 million Americans. Until recently, little was known about what causes the crippling illness, which can turn a short walk into a major flare-up that leaves many patients bedbound with symptoms that rest doesn't relieve. For years, doctors categorized ME/CFS as a psychosomatic issue rather than a physical disorder. But a growing body of research, including the latest genetic findings, suggests there is a clear biological basis. 'ME/CFS is a serious illness and we now know that someone's genetics can tip the balance on whether they are diagnosed with it,' Dr. Chris Ponting, lead investigator at the University of Edinburgh, said in a statement. The study analyzed DNA samples from more than 15,500 people of European ancestry with ME/CFS as part of DecodeME, the world's largest dataset on the disease. Researchers found eight key regions of DNA where differences were far more common in ME/CFS patients than in the general population. 3 Human DNA may hold clues to why some people develop ME/CFS. vitstudio – Two of those DNA signals are linked to the body's response to infection, aligning with frequent patient reports that symptoms began after recovering from an infectious illness. Another genetic marker overlaps with chronic pain — a common complaint among ME/CFS sufferers. 'As DNA doesn't change with ME/CFS onset, these findings reflect causes rather than effects of ME/CFS,' the researchers wrote. 'These results are groundbreaking,' said Sonya Chowdhury, CEO of the charity Action for ME and DecodeME co-investigator. 'We've gone from knowing almost nothing about ME/CFS causes to pinpointing clear targets for research.' While researchers say the findings are not yet ready to guide diagnosis or treatment, they provide vital clues about the disease's origins and could pave the way for future breakthroughs. 3 Many people with ME/CFS say their symptoms first appeared after recovering from a viral illness. LuneVA/ – 'We are shining a laser light on eight precise areas of DNA, so that highly focused research can now be carried out,' Chowdhury said. 'We hope this attracts researchers, drug developers, and proportionate funding to ME/CFS — and speeds up the discovery of treatments.' Currently, there is no diagnostic test, effective treatment, or cure for ME/CFS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Instead, doctors typically focus on relieving symptoms through interventions such as medication, stretching and movement therapies, acupuncture, or massage. They may also recommend lifestyle strategies such as pacing, a method that helps ME/CFS patients manage their activity levels to reduce the frequency and severity of relapses while staying as active as possible. The study is currently a preprint from the University of Edinburgh and has not been peer-reviewed yet. The DecodeME team is urging researchers worldwide to tap into their dataset and launch new, targeted studies on ME/CFS, especially around these eight newly identified genetic signals.
Miami Herald
33 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
SNAP beneficiaries in Florida will no longer be allowed to buy these popular foods
SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) beneficiaries in Florida will no longer be able to purchase a range of foods considered to have low nutritional value starting January 2026. Sugary drinks like sodas and energy drinks are included in the list of prohibited foods for SNAP beneficiaries in Florida. Candy and prepared desserts will also not be purchasable with the EBT card, which is automatically reloaded each month with SNAP assistance. The federal program, administered by the states and benefiting nearly 42 million low-income Americans, already prohibited the purchase of prepared meals, personal care products, alcoholic beverages, cigars and tobacco with SNAP benefits. In response to criticism that the program allows the purchase of 'junk food,' the Department of Agriculture granted 12 states permission to approve waivers and expand the list of foods that cannot be bought with SNAP. The first to make the waivers were Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Arkansas, Idaho and Utah. Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Colorado and West Virginia joined on July 4, as announced by Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins, alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services. The USDA is providing states with greater flexibility to manage their programs through the approval of SNAP Food Restriction Waivers, which restrict the purchase of non-nutritious products like sodas and sweets, according to the Department of Agriculture's website. These waivers are a crucial step to ensure taxpayer dollars provide nutritious options that improve health outcomes within SNAP. In Florida, the SNAP program assists 3 million low-income individuals. The average monthly benefit for each user is $184. In Miami-Dade County, nearly a quarter of households rely on SNAP to pay for their groceries –- the fifth highest rate of any county in Florida, according to Census Bureau data. The One Big Beautiful Bill includes cuts to SNAP benefits totaling $287 billion over the next 10 years. It also expands work requirements for older beneficiaries and some parents.
