health
In recent years, it has been shown that colorectal cancer is increasingly being detected in young adults. Ten percent of bowel cancer patients in Vorarlberg are now under the age of 50 – less than the age at which screenings begin.
Colorectal cancer screening has led more and more women and men over the age of 50 to identify the disease at an early stage. However, the number of people suffering from colorectal cancer has also recently increased among young adults. About ten percent of patients are under the age of 50, according to the Thomas Winder Primary School in Feldkirch.
The causes can be genetic, but lifestyle is often the deciding factor, according to Winder. These include consumption of alcohol and nicotine, lack of exercise and a diet high in processed foods and sugary drinks. Obesity is also a risk factor for colorectal cancer.
Microbiome treatment
Because colorectal cancer screening is only intended from the age of 50, this cancer is often only detected late in younger people. One hope for the future, Winder says, is to treat the microbiome, meaning all the microorganisms in the gut. In the future, it should be possible to improve this person’s microbiome in a very targeted and individual way. But the facts are still very few, and therefore the treatment of the microbiome does not yet play a role in everyday clinical practice.
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