WHY IS CANCER SKYROCKETING IN YOUNGER ADULTS?

Video Transcript:

Aloha.  I’m Dr. Taketa-Wong.  Thank you for joining me.
 
Up until recent times, if you were under the age of 50, you didn’t have to worry much about cancer.  That’s no longer the case.  Early onset colon cancer in that age group has skyrocketed by 63% since 1990. 
 
Cancer is a serious diagnosis at any age, but when it strikes in younger adults, the tumors are typically more aggressive.  They also go undetected longer, because routine cancer screening isn’t recommended for some of the most common cancer types, such as breast and prostate, until age 50.
 
Since cancer is typically set in motion 20 or 30 years before it’s diagnosed, researchers wanted to know what changes could have caused this dramatic increase.  Medical researchers have determined that increases in early-onset cancer correlate with societal changes that started in the 1950s.
 
These include a huge increase in processed food and fast food, less physical activity, and environmental toxins like pesticides, plastics, and household chemicals.  These changes, accounted for the startling increase in early-onset cancers that started in the 1990s.  Their effects would have taken about that much time to accumulate. 
 
Let’s begin with a few facts.
 
What is cancer?  All of the cells in our body have a lifespan.  They’re supposed to exist for a certain amount of time, die, and be replaced by new cells.  Some cells live for 2 days and others for several years. 
 
With cancer, the cells become mutated.  The part that’s supposed to tell the cells to die gets turned off and they keep living and growing and while ceasing to perform their normal job. 
 
For example, white blood cells are supposed to fight off infections and with leukemia, they keep multiplying, but they’re not fighting infections anymore.  They just take up space.  If they continue to grow, they can form into tumors.
 
As it stands now, 40% of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes.  That’s 136 million individuals – moms, dads, sisters, brothers, relatives.  Each year, close to 2 million people are diagnosed with cancer and nearly 620,000 die from it.  In fact, most of us know someone, perhaps in our own family, who has had cancer. 
 
I’m going to read through the list of risks for early onset cancer, affecting people 50 years old and younger and then talk with you about some keys to prevention.  The risks include:
 
    • Unhealthy foods and beverages
    • Less physical activity and a more sedentary lifestyle
     • Lower breastfeeding rates
     • Increased alcohol consumption
     • Reduced sleep among children due to bright lights during the night
     • Night shift work
     • Reproductive changes including reduced age of puberty, increased contraceptive use
     • Increased rates of type 2 diabetes
     • Higher antibiotic use
 
It’s clear that when it comes to cancer, we are our own worst enemy AND our own best friend.  Most of the skyrocketing cancer numbers for younger adults can be traced back to preventable causes and can be addressed by changes in our own behavior.
 
So now let’s turn to preventing cancer.  Because – with most diseases, but especially with cancer – prevention beats treatment every single time.
 
There are some accepted general guidelines for cancer prevention.
 
The general guidelines include eating anti-cancer foods, getting sufficient exercise, having good quality sleep, and managing stress.
 
Lots of the fruits and vegetables, especially vegetables, are high in antioxidants, carotenoids and polyphenols. These essentially compounds found in food that have tumor fighting properties.
 
For example, apples are high in polyphenols.  Berries are high in antioxidants.  Carrots are high in carotenoids.
 
There is also a compound called sulforaphane that decreases the growth of cancer cells, and that is found in the cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and so on.  One of the best sources is broccoli sprouts, which are better than adult broccoli or other sprouts.
 
Sulforaphane also helps increase glutathione levels, and glutathione is one of the main antioxidants in our body.  It helps decrease inflammation and binds with toxins so they can be removed through the waste.
 
Cancer risk is increased with higher levels of inflammation and toxicity.
 
Fatty fish, like salmon, mackerel, and anchovies can help to reduce the risk of colon and prostate cancer.
 
The American Institute for Cancer Research has found that all nuts have cancer preventing properties.  Walnuts in particular were found to be helpful in reducing the risk of breast cancer.
 
Legumes such as beans, peas, lentils, and so on, help to reduce the risk of both colon and breast cancer.
 
How about exercise?  There are 13 different types of cancer whose risk is lessened because of regular exercise.  These include breast, prostate, colon, lung, uterine cancer and more.  Also, if people have cancer, exercise assists in recovery and increases the likelihood of survival.  It can also play an important part in improving overall physical and mental well being.
 
In addition, exercise very likely makes anticancer treatments more effective in destroying  cancer cells.  It can also improve sleep.
 
A vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for cancer, so a really simple thing is to get your vitamin D levels tested.  You can ask your doctor for a blood test, and I like to see the level at 50 to 80 nanograms per milliliter.  If it’s lower than that, you should consider taking vitamin D supplements.
 
When it comes to alcohol, the American Cancer Society guidelines state that it’s best not to drink at all and definitely no more than 1 drink a day for women and 2 for men.  By the way, if you’re looking for resveratrol, you don’t need wine.  It’s in red grapes, grape juice, cocoa, and all kinds of berries.
 
Lastly, although I mentioned it in the list of risks, I want to emphasize how very important getting good, sound, sleep is.  That means 7 to 8 hours every night.  And trying to sleep more on weekends doesn’t make up for missing sleep during the week in terms of repairing the body, decreasing cancer risk, and other important functions.
 
What’s important to take away from our time together is that early onset cancer is serious and on the rise, but that it can be prevented by action that we can take for ourselves.
 
I’d certainly welcome the opportunity to discuss your specific health situation, so you, too, can feel empowered with your health.