Since 1990, the number of people under 50 contracting diseases such as breast cancer, colorectal cancer, esophageal cancer and pancreatic cancer has increased dramatically.
This is apparent from a new study, carried out by researchers from Harvard, among others, and published in the renowned scientific journal Nature Reviews.
Risk increases with each generation
The scientists went through all available data on cancer in young people and examined whether there were, for example, risk factors in childhood that may have played a role.
And so they found an important difference between generations.
‘We found that the risk increases with each generation. For example, people born in 1960 have a higher risk of developing cancer before they are 50 than people born in 1950, and we expect the risk to rise even more in future generations,” explains Shuji Ogino, a professor at Harvard Medical School. a press release.
Surprising discovery
The researchers emphasize that the increase is partly because we are increasingly able to detect early stages of cancer through better scans.
But they also point out that the increasing number of cases of the 14 cancers studied cannot be explained by scans alone.
In their search for possible causes, the scientists also looked at studies of risk factors – including risk factors in the first years of life.
During their comprehensive analysis, the researchers found that environmental factors related to lifestyle, weight and gut bacteria have changed significantly over the decades.
And the researchers believe that Western diets and lifestyles may contribute to the increase. For example, they point to risk factors such as alcohol consumption, lack of sleep, smoking, being overweight and eating highly processed foods.
Surprisingly, the scientists also found that children now sleep much less than they did decades ago, although adults’ sleep amount hasn’t really changed.
One of the limitations of the study is that there was not enough data available on cancer cases in low- and middle-income countries.
That is why they emphasize the importance of collecting more data and conducting more research, following people from childhood to later life.