Cancer cases increase among young people.. The reasons?

Scientists are trying to explain the reason for the increase in cancer cases among young people in their twenties and thirties, according to a report published by the British newspaper "The Times".

The number of people diagnosed with cancer in the United Kingdom under the age of 50 increased by 24 percent between 1995 and 2019, according to figures issued by the British Cancer Research Center, as nearly 35,000 Britons aged 25 to 49 were diagnosed in 2019.

The increase in cases

While cases among people over the age of 75 in the G20 countries peaked in 2005 and are now declining, the rates of infection among young people between the ages of 20 and 34 reached their highest levels in the last thirty years.

In all cancers, inflammation may play a vital role in preparing cells for disease because inflamed tissues are more likely to turn cancerous, and mutations occur in vulnerable cells when they are exposed to external stimuli such as drinking alcohol, smoking, air pollution or exposure to chemicals.

The dangers of alcohol and obesity

There are regional differences in cancer rates and types, with the highest rates of early cancer occurring in Western Europe, North America and Oceania, but a comparison between South Korea and neighboring Japan provides an important clue.

South Korea is similar to Japan economically and ethnically, but its lifestyle is closer to that of the United States and Western Europe. The country has a marked increase in early cancers associated with the digestive system, similar to high-income Western countries, suggesting that the Western diet may be responsible.

Environmental factors such as plastics

Obesity may be an important factor in early cancer development in addition to alcohol. Dr. Aparna Parikh, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and medical director of colorectal cancer in young adults at Massachusetts General Hospital, agrees.

Those affected may also be exposed to environmental factors such as plastic, so early onset is linked to a combination of environmental and lifestyle factors, Parikh adds.