This article is about Cancer, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that we all know someone who has been affected by cancer in some way. In fact, the report says everyone everywhere has been affected by cancer in some shape or form but what I’m about to tell you is still alarming. New research finds that cancer cases are rising globally especially among the young, Cancer is no longer disease affecting the elderly alone.
Cases of cancer are being identified in adults under 50 years of age and this has now been called a global epidemic, but why is this alarming trend emerging? Let’s take a look at the answers according to the report. Cancer that dreaded term an illness which is life altering in many ways not just for the person battling cancer but also those around her even as the world tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, cancer has been claiming lives and is one of the leading causes of death worldwide accounting for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020, or nearly one in six deaths. According to the World Health Organization there are some most affected cancers in the world that include breast cancer, Lung cancer, Rectum cancer and Skin cancer. This was in 2020 it is unclear how the numbers stand as of now remember for the last two years the pandemic has kept health professionals occupied and As for cancer patients their treatment has been delayed, some were diagnosed too late or not at all. But this isn’t what’s alarming health professionals at the moment a new trend has come to light, previous data had found cancer to be more prevalent among older adults mostly people above the age of 50 but that’s not the case anymore.
A new review of cancer registry records from 44 countries finds that the incidence of cancer has increased across the world specifically among the younger lot that is people under the age of 50. This has been observed across multiple middle and high income countries. When cancer strikes someone under the age of 50 it is termed as early onset cancer, the report states that younger people are being diagnosed with cancers and the breast, endometrium, esophagus, kidney, liver and more and this trend has been rising steadily across the world since the 1990s. So what could have led to this, why are younger people falling prey to cancer? there could be two reasons for this suggests research, one there is more sensitive testing to some cancer types for instance thyroid cancer, two are lifestyle there’s plenty of market research to show you the links between cancer and other health ailments be it obesity inactivity diabetes or poor lifestyle, choices like smoking, alcohol consumption, too much red meat and added sugar could be another contributor says the study. Even rising pollution has played a role in increasing the risk of cancer and let’s not forget they call us the burn out generation, as we join the hustle culture we compromise on sleep we work long hours and these choices are contributing to a higher incidence of cancer among the young. So what can we do for starters we need to talk about early onset cancer and at an individual level, we need to make better lifestyle choices, stop smoking, stop leading us at sedentary lifestyle, stop getting a majority of your daily calorie intake from processed foods, stop prioritizing work and inhumane hours over mental well-being, these may seem like cosmetic changes in the short term but could save a life in the long run.
