If you’re concerned about your health, you might want to set aside the burgers, steaks, and alcohol for a while.
New research suggests an increase in cancer cases among young people could be related to red meat, salt, and alcohol, The New York Post reports.
A study published Tuesday in the journal BMJ Oncology gives the results of data gathered between 1990 and 2019 that found a 79% surge in new cancer cases among people under the age of 50 over the past 30 years.
Just for the year 2019, the early-onset cancer cases in that age group totaled 3.26 million, an increase of 79.1% since 1990, according to The Post.
The study also reported an increase in cancer-related deaths by almost 28% since 1990. Some of the cancers with higher mortality rates included breast, trachea, lung, bowel, and stomach. But it was new cases of early-onset windpipe and prostate cancers that rose the fastest between 1990 and 2019.
North America, Australasia, and Western Europe had the highest rate of early-onset cancers in 2019, according to the study.
“The rising incidence of early-onset cancers may partially attribute to increasing uptake of screening and early detection in developed regions and countries,” the study’s authors noted.
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Based on the trends over the past three decades, the researchers estimate that the global number of new early-onset cancer cases and associated deaths will rise by a further 31% and 21%, respectively, in 2030, with those in their 40s the most at risk.
The researchers said genetic factors are likely to have a role, but the data indicates those with diets high in red meat and salt, and low in fruit and milk – combined with alcohol and tobacco use – are the main risk factors underlying the most common cancers among those under 50. Physical inactivity, excess weight, and high blood sugar were also contributory factors.
“Encouraging a healthy lifestyle, including a healthy diet, the restriction of tobacco and alcohol consumption, and appropriate outdoor activity, could reduce the burden of early-onset cancer,” the authors wrote.
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