Generation X and Millennials
Why is the risk increasing among young people? “We don’t have an answer yet. We think it’s a combination of factors,” Shaukat said.
One of the factors is the increase in metabolic syndrome. Unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise are also causes. “We know that rates of diabetes and obesity are increasing in the young adult population,” says Dr. Lee.
Additionally, when you eat typical meat and processed foods,–A poor Western diet changes the composition of our microbiome, the trillions of bacteria and other microorganisms that live in our intestines. It reduces the number of beneficial bacteria and increases the number of harmful bacteria. Scientists call this imbalance dysbiosis, which causes inflammation and DNA damage that can turn healthy colon cells into cancer.
“The third hypothesis is that this younger generation received far more antibiotics while growing up,” Shaukat says. Taking antibiotics also changes the balance of bacteria in your gut, which can cause cells in your colon to become cancerous, she says.
Colorectal cancer is often missed in young people because doctors may not immediately suspect colorectal cancer in this age group. “Myself and many of my colleagues have seen too many cases of young people with very advanced cancers who have had rectal bleeding and persistent symptoms that sometimes last more than a year, but doctors have dismissed them as hemorrhoids or nothing to worry about,” Shaukat says.
A 2017 study found that an estimated 82% of people under the age of 50 who develop colon cancer were misdiagnosed. This remains a problem. A recent study of more than 1,000 colorectal cancer patients and survivors found that 75% saw at least two doctors before diagnosis, and 20% saw four or more doctors before receiving the correct diagnosis.
