On blood – Knvul Sheikh in NYT:

‘Marisa Peters had been experiencing symptoms for years: blood on her toilet paper after going to the bathroom, changes in her stool and difficulty controlling the urge to poop. But she was in her 30s, healthy and physically active. She did not have any abdominal pain, and doctors dismissed the symptoms as hemorrhoids, or normal postpartum changes after the birth of her first son. When Ms. Peters finally visited a gastroenterologist in 2021, after having her third child and experiencing worsening bleeding from her rectum along with changes in her stool consistency, an urgent colonoscopy confirmed that she had colorectal cancer.
It had been four or five years since her symptoms had first emerged. Yet “I did not expect that cancer was going to be what they found,” Ms. Peters said.
A report published by the American Cancer Society in January suggests that rates of colorectal cancer are rising rapidly among people in their 20s, 30s and 40s — even as incidence is declining in people over the age of 65.’

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‘Some research has linked lifestyle and dietary changes to increased rates of colorectal cancer in both young people and older adults. Recent generations have consumed more red meat, ultraprocessed foods and sugary beverages, and have been known to binge drink more frequently; between 1992 and 1998, cigarette smoking also increased before declining again, while physical activity has continuously declined for decades. All of these factors — along with the rise in obesity rates since the 1980s — are associated with cancer risk. But once again, none of them fully account for the increase in early-onset colorectal cancer.’

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‘For instance, for many years, the rates of colorectal cancer diagnoses were highest among non-Hispanic Black people, but research shows that these cancers increased more among non-Hispanic white people in the 1990s and early 2000s, Dr. Murphy said. Now, both groups have fairly similar rates of cancer. “Does this mean that white people are now being exposed to something that Black people have been exposed to for many, many years? We just don’t know yet,” Dr. Murphy said.

There are also geographic disparities in the increase in cancer, with experts seeing more cases emerge in cities and towns along the Mississippi River, in Southeastern states and in Appalachia, which may be explained by occupational exposures to trace elements like arsenic, chromium, and nickel, which are often used in coal production, chemical plants and other industries in those regions. So-called forever chemicals like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS, have been linked to other cancers and could also be driving some of the increase in early-onset colorectal cancer.
“I don’t think there’s going to be one smoking gun that explains everything,” Dr. Murphy said. “It’s a whole bunch of things.”’

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‘“I can promise you that doing a one-day cleanse to prep for a colonoscopy is far better than having poop coming out of your stomach into a bag,” Ms. Peters said. “Thankfully, it was temporary for me, but it’s not for many people.”’

Read the article here.

Tell me what you are exposed to and I’ll tell you about the risk of getting cancer.

And why of all sorts of cancer it’s the early-onset colorectal cancer that’s on the rise?

One should prepare, regardless of your age, ethnicity and the place where you live, for a colonoscopy. With a one-day cleanse for example.