Dear Dr. Fritz, Please call me Amanda. I am just confused as to why there is a rise in colon cancer nowadays, especially in young people.
I am really concerned as cancer runs in our family and I am not that old. I am sorry to be anxious about this. Could this be due to diet? But, which diet is that? Please help.
Thank you very much. -Anxious Amanda Dear Anxious Amanda, I understand why you are anxious. Cancer runs in the family and getting cancer is NO joke, nor a walk in the park, but, a climb to Calvary.
Yes, there is a rise in colon cancer in young people. But, this is in the States, not here in the Philippines. A study by the researchers from Ohio State University for those who are below 50 years old found that a combination of eating too much sugar and having not enough fiber causes the gut to produce a bacteria that speeds up the aging of people's cells.
These younger patients who had diets low in fiber and high in sugar produce a bacteria called Fusobacterium, which increases inflammation all over the gut by binding to pro-inflammatory proteins. Fiber, on the other hand, slows the release of sugar in the blood and feeds healthy gut bacteria that lower inflammation. And if the inflammation in the gut keeps going, the researchers estimated that regular poor diets in young colorectal cancer patients can age their cells by up to 15 years older than a person's biological age.
This is a phenomenon known as 'inflammaging.' And since the cells are older than they actually are, they are more vulnerable to cancer because they are more damaged and more likely to gain mutations that make them susceptible to disease. The data of the researchers also suggested that microbes which can cause diseases may induce inflammation, which can lead to accelerated aging in early-onset colorectal cancer.
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there’s more...
will continue this in my next column. Until then. -Dr.
Fritz (Dr. Fritz Legarde Espedilla is an aesthetic dermatologist, surgeon and clinical sexologist. She is also trained in hypnotherapy and Medical Acupuncture.
She has been in the broadcast media for more than a decade and has written a book based on her 15-year stint with her radio program, “Healthy is Sexy Secrets ni Dr. Fritz”. For your questions, you may send them to Dear Dr.
Fritz, c/o Sunstar-Davao Publishing Inc., Door 11, Ebro-Pelayo Building 1, Juan Luna St., Barangay 29-C, Davao City, or you email them to dokatlaw@gmail.
com. If you don’t wish your letter to be published, we regret that we cannot answer them. Thank you for your understanding.
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