Colon cancer may increase under the age of 50 because some young people’s bodies are aging faster than they should, experts say.
Researchers at the University of Miami found that the phenomenon – called accelerated aging – increases the risk of developing the disease.
Accelerated aging is said to occur when a person’s biological age exceeds their actual – or chronological – age.
While chronological age refers to years, biological age is based on physiological signs that reflect the effects of genetics, lifestyle choices, and environmental factors.
It can be detected by sophisticated DNA analysis of saliva or blood tests.
In the latest series of The Kardashians, Kim, mom Kris and sister Khloe, all take on the challenges of biological aging.
They discovered that Khloe’s biological age is 28 – 11 years younger than her actual age, 39.
Kim, 43, meanwhile, was given a biological age of 34, with Kris six years younger than her actual age.
If a person is 50 years old but their biological age is 55, aging is increased by five years, says Dr Shriya Kumar, a colorectal cancer specialist.
If a person is 50 years old, but his biological age is 55, aging has increased in five years, Dr. Shriya Kumar, a colorectal cancer specialist in the new research.
She added, “This can be reflected in the overall functioning of the body.”
“It sounds very theoretical, but in fact accelerated aging has been shown to predict death over time and even for many cancers.
Colorectal cancer rates are increasing in people under the age of 50.
The discovery comes at a time when the worldwide explosion of colon cancers in younger patients has baffled doctors.
The disease is most common in people over 50, but in the past three decades, the disease has risen by 50 percent in younger age groups, recent data suggest.
For this reason, health officials in the US start screening for colon cancer – also known as colon cancer screening – at 45.
Some doctors now say that this should be done at a young age, because half of early-onset colorectal cancers occur in people under the age of 45, according to the latest statistics from the National Cancer Institute.
In the latest series of The Kardashians, Kim, mother Kris and sister Khloé, have all taken on biological aging challenges.
While chronological age refers to years, biological age is based on physiological signs that reflect the effects of genetics, lifestyle choices, and environmental factors. It can be detected by sophisticated DNA analysis of saliva or blood tests
In the UK, however, NHS screening is only available to those aged 54 to 74.
The exact cause between accelerated aging and colon cancer is not fully understood.
However, some factors that increase a person’s risk of developing early-onset colorectal cancer also increase biological age.
These include poor diets – including highly processed foods – obesity, smoking, alcohol consumption and other lifestyle factors.
Other key factors for accelerated aging are pollution and stress.
Earlier this year, a separate study found that young people with certain types of cancer — particularly lung, gastrointestinal and ovarian cancers — have accelerated aging.
What is surprising is that there is ‘strong evidence’ that accelerated aging and the risk of cancer increases with each successive generation born after 1965, according to the US researchers involved in the study.
And that means Gen Z — those born between 1997 and 2012 who are getting younger today — are more likely to develop deadly diseases like cancer at a much earlier stage than their parents or grandparents.
Professor Ilaria Bellantuno, associate director of the Healthy Lifespan Institute at the University of Sheffield, told MailOnline: ‘We don’t know for sure whether younger generations are aging faster or why.’
“That research hasn’t been done. But it’s not impossible. We’re seeing a lot of diseases in young people, diseases that we would normally expect older people to develop.”
And biological aging is a risk factor for those diseases. In the same way that smokers increase their risk of lung cancer, does accelerated aging increase their risk of many long-term chronic diseases?’
Dr. Kumar suggests that testing for accelerated aging can help identify younger individuals who should undergo routine screening and colonoscopy.
Colon cancer screening comes in the form of convenient at-home stool-sample tests.
Early detection of the disease has been shown to improve both treatment options and outcomes of this disease.
A positive screening result is usually followed by a colonoscopy, during which a polyp found can be removed.
Dr. Kumar continued, “It sounds very theoretical, but accelerated aging has been shown to predict death over time and even for many cancers.”
What’s exciting about the potential in colorectal cancer is that we’ve discovered a clear mechanism of prevention.
Colonoscopy is not only about early detection, but also cancer prevention.
