Why is cancer striking earlier?

[ReformedCharacter]

Stark statistics show that something is badly amiss with out modern lifestyles:

So the increase in cancer rates in younger people has come as a surprise. The numbers are stark. Data from the G20 group of industrialised countries indicates that between 1990 and 2019, cancer rates increased by 22% in the age group 25-29. Rates of cancer in the next age group, 30-34, are at the highest level ever. And given cancer screening classically isn’t routine in younger age groups, these cancers tend to go undiagnosed for longer with the tumours being more aggressive.

The increase in early-onset cancers since 1990 has mainly been in breast, colon, oesophagus, kidney, liver and pancreas cancer. Among the 14 cancer types on the rise, eight are related to the digestive system. Colorectal cancer, for example, increased 70% among those aged 15-39 in G20 countries between 1990 and 2019.

Ogino points to diet as being a key factor in the rise of cancers in young people (although this is still an educated guess rather than conclusive evidence). Ogino is not alone in pointing to diet: many experts have made this link after looking at the types of cancers on the rise, and their connection to the digestive system.

The basic problem is that the food we’re exposed to is often heavily processed but has the benefit of being affordable, easy, long-lasting and appealing to taste buds. But it is almost certainly quite bad for our health. And this is increasingly the case for children. Highly processed foods have become regular meals, including processed breakfast cereals, processed supermarket bread, ready meals, frozen pizzas, processed supermarket sandwiches, and processed biscuits, doughnuts and chocolates. As Dr Chris van Tulleken has written, we are becoming ultra-processed people. More than 80% of the processed food sold in Britain is considered unsafe for marketing to children by the World Health Organization.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/25/cancer-striking-earlier-ultra-processed-foods

RC

[88V8]

Stark statistics show that something is badly amiss with out modern lifestyles:

Yes.
Govts very happy to tax fags. High time they started taxing unhealthy foods, there's a lot of tax dollars to be made and the NHS to protect.
If the govt had the courage.

V8

[Urbandreamer]

Has anyone considered that the increase in cancer statistics might relate to increased awareness, public health communication and testing?

Just a thought.

[servodude]

Has anyone considered that the increase in cancer statistics might relate to increased awareness, public health communication and testing?

Just a thought.

There might be an aspect of that - but it is mentioned in the article that the highest increases are in the cohorts that are not traditionally screened,

[servodude]

Stark statistics show that something is badly amiss with out modern lifestyles:

Yes.
Govts very happy to tax fags. High time they started taxing unhealthy foods, there's a lot of tax dollars to be made and the NHS to protect.
If the govt had the courage.

V8

I think you're bang on! Even if it does sound like stealing a page from the SNP playbook

It's a politically difficult thing to do
On one side shite food is cheaper, and easier, so it is more readily consumed by the poor, or ignorant
On the other hand "liberty"
- so threading the needle on an effective policy that doesn't hit your core support is difficult (unless your party has been handled a thumping majority on on orthogonal issue)

[Mike4]

The root problem according to Dr Van Tulleken is that almost all assessment of food for 'healthiness' focuses on nutritional value, and ignores all the artificial chemicals added to make it delicious, 'more'-ish and long-lasting in the fridge. Emulsifiers in particular seem to be under suspicion. Food built like this is known as "UPF. "Ultra-processed food".

One definition of UPF is food containing anything you wouldn't find in your own kitchen cupboard at home. E.G lecithin, carnauba wax, hydrogenated vegetable fat, palm oil to name a few from stuff I've eaten today.

[Lootman]

unless your party has been handled a thumping majority on on orthogonal issue

If you think that Brexit is/was an "orthogonal issue" then you have been on the wrong ass-end of the planet for way too long.

[Mike4]

unless your party has been handled a thumping majority on on orthogonal issue

If you think that Brexit is/was an "orthogonal issue" then you have been on the wrong ass-end of the planet for way too long.

You'd think everyone south of the equator would just fall off, wouldn't you?!

[Lootman]

If you think that Brexit is/was an "orthogonal issue" then you have been on the wrong ass-end of the planet for way too long.

You'd think everyone south of the equator would just fall off, wouldn't you?!

There is a reason convicts were sent there.

[XFool]

Just a thought: I wonder if there is any connection with the seeming greater incidence of food allergies in younger people?

[Lootman]

Just a thought: I wonder if there is any connection with the seeming greater incidence of food allergies in younger people?

Or alternatively the increased self-absorption of younger folks is a contributory factor?

[servodude]

If you think that Brexit is/was an "orthogonal issue" then you have been on the wrong ass-end of the planet for way too long.

You'd think everyone south of the equator would just fall off, wouldn't you?!

I just think he doesn't know what orthogonal means
I'll add that to the words he has difficulty with
I would want to comment on his understanding of gravity... but you might be right about that too

[Urbandreamer]

You'd think everyone south of the equator would just fall off, wouldn't you?!

I just think he doesn't know what orthogonal means
I'll add that to the words he has difficulty with
I would want to comment on his understanding of gravity... but you might be right about that too

I thought that orthogonal meant at right angles, You know the intersection being a corner. As in "All four corners of the world".

We are all Sophists here.

[servodude]

I just think he doesn't know what orthogonal means
I'll add that to the words he has difficulty with
I would want to comment on his understanding of gravity... but you might be right about that too

I thought that orthogonal meant at right angles, You know the intersection being a corner. As in "All four corners of the world".

We are all Sophists here.

how very literal

[Lootman]

I just think he doesn't know what orthogonal means
I'll add that to the words he has difficulty with
I would want to comment on his understanding of gravity... but you might be right about that too

I thought that orthogonal meant at right angles, You know the intersection being a corner. As in "All four corners of the world".

We are all Sophists here.

Yes, he was misusing the word. But why use a short word when a long one will do?

[Adamski]

Obesity is another factor. People eating too much and not exercising enough. Should have a sugar tax but would cost poor as % of income most so won't happen.

[ReformedCharacter]

Just a thought: I wonder if there is any connection with the seeming greater incidence of food allergies in younger people?

I've read the suggestion that younger people don't get as much exposure to dirt, soil, mites etc. in their infancies, that would have been more commonplace among previous generations, and that lack of exposure contributes to later allergies.

RC
(whose mother told him that she once found a semi-digested earthworm in one of his nappies )

[ReformedCharacter]

Obesity is another factor. People eating too much and not exercising enough. Should have a sugar tax but would cost poor as % of income most so won't happen.

AFAIK, obesity is positively correlated with various cancers. Chris van Tulleken has proposed a tax on ultra processed foods, but as you mention, it is unlikely to happen.

RC

[88V8]

Just a thought: I wonder if there is any connection with the seeming greater incidence of food allergies in younger people?

That may be partly attributable to over-sealed homes arising from the obsession with insulation (fewer air changes) combined with overuse of household chemicals, and emanations from artificial fibres especially in cheap carpets.

There is also a link to C-sections, which conduce to more allergies, and unfortunately the NHS has given way to the cry for more C-Sections, and it has long been known that fat mothers have higher birthweight children.

So one might make a case that obesity is also a factor in allergies, as well as cancer.

Fatshaming... a good thing.

V8

[Tedx]

Just a thought: I wonder if there is any connection with the seeming greater incidence of food allergies in younger people?

That may be partly attributable to over-sealed homes arising from the obsession with insulation (fewer air changes) combined with overuse of household chemicals, and emanations from artificial fibres especially in cheap carpets.

There is also a link to C-sections, which conduce to more allergies, and unfortunately the NHS has given way to the cry for more C-Sections, and it has long been known that fat mothers have higher birthweight children.

So one might make a case that obesity is also a factor in allergies, as well as cancer.

Fatshaming... a good thing.

V8

Fatshaming... a good thing.

Noooo.

You should be using phrases like 'Body positive' or 'Plus size'.

Anything else and you'll have the PC Polis kicking your door in and hauling you away for 're education'

I watch Lizzo and her tribe of dancing fatties at Glastonbury. Everyone but me it seems was ooohing and ahhhing and generally praising the act for the positive effect it will have on pie-challenged young bloaters. It's ok to be big. My character is larger than life.

No you aren't. You're a case of Type 2 just waiting to happen. Not good.