Millennials and Gen Xers are Getting Colorectal Cancer. 7 Symptoms to Watch For
Obesity and alcohol consumption are fueling bowel cancer’s rising death toll among young adults, according to a 2023 study published in a leading cancer journal.
The study, published last year in the Annals of Oncology, marks the first time bowel cancer (colorectal cancer) deaths among young people—Millennials and Gen Xers ages 25-49—are predicted to rise in some European countries, and confirms a trend researchers first noted in 2021.
Being overweight or obese—and related health conditions like hyperglycemia and diabetes—are the primary factors responsible, Dr. Carlo La Vecchia, professor of medical statistics and epidemiology at the University of Milan, Italy, and lead author on the paper said in a news release on the study.
But “heavier alcohol drinking over time in central and northern Europe and the U.K., and reductions in physical activity,” have also contributed, he added.
Alcohol consumption has been linked to early onset bowel cancer, which tends to be more aggressive and lethal, when compared to the kind that’s diagnosed in older individuals.
Colorectal cancer risks, deaths rising among U.S. young adults, too
In the U.S., colon cancer diagnoses among adults younger than 50 began increasing in the mid-1990s, with deaths rising a short time later. The increase is seen mainly among white individuals, as opposed to Black or Asian, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute.
