Yahoo News: Doctors see rising rates of colon cancer in younger people
While overall rates of colorectal cancer deaths and diagnoses in the total population are declining, those rates are increasing among young people.
"Cancer is rising in younger patients, and it's disturbing," Rekha Chaudhary, MD, University of Cincinnati Cancer Center physician-researcher and adjunct professor in UC's College of Medicine, said in a recent Ohio Department of Health press conference.
Among those 55 and younger, colorectal cancer rates have been increasing by 1% to 2% a year since about the mid-1990s, and deaths have risen about 1% per year since the mid-2000s, according to the American Cancer Society. Colorectal cancer is the second highest cause of cancer death in the United States.
While research into the cause of this increase is ongoing, experts are focusing on environmental factors, long-term generational changes in diet and the effect of stress.
"The World Health Organization recommends 20-25 grams of fiber a day. The average American gets 15 grams of fiber a day," Chaudhary said. "...It's a lot of fiber, but that is so important for the food for our bacteria, the good bacteria, to decrease the colorectal cancer risks."
Read the Yahoo News story, originally published in the Dayton Daily News.
Featured photo at top of a medical professional holding a colonoscope. Photo/robertprzybysz/iStock.
Related Stories
Sugar overload killing hearts
November 10, 2025
Two in five people will be told they have diabetes during their lifetime. And people who have diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease. One of the deadliest dangers? Diabetic cardiomyopathy. But groundbreaking University of Cincinnati research hopes to stop and even reverse the damage before it’s too late.
Is going nuclear the solution to Ohio’s energy costs?
November 10, 2025
The Ohio Capital Journal recently reported that as energy prices continue to climb, economists are weighing the benefits of going nuclear to curb costs. The publication dove into a Scioto Analysis survey of 18 economists to weigh the pros and cons of nuclear energy. One economist featured was Iryna Topolyan, PhD, professor of economics at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business.
App turns smartwatch into detector of structural heart disease
November 10, 2025
An app that uses an AI model to read a single-lead ECG from a smartwatch can detect structural heart disease, researchers reported at the 2025 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. Although the technology requires further validation, researchers said it could help improve the identification of patients with heart failure, valvular conditions and left ventricular hypertrophy before they become symptomatic, which could improve the prognosis for people with these conditions.