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Indians are no strangers to <keyword id="20473570" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fasting" source="keywords">fasting</keyword>. It is a cultural experience at this point, with various religions incorporating it in different ways — think the Paryushan Parva observed by Jains, <keyword id="19958816" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="karva-chauth" source="keywords">Karva Chauth</keyword> practised by Hindus and Ramdan among Muslims. However, more and more people are gaining awareness about the <keyword id="19923745" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="health-benefits" source="keywords">health benefits</keyword> of the act of fasting, with research suggesting it can delay certain diseases and potentially extend lifespan.<br /><br />But as is the case with most things, the effects of fasting are not all black or white.<br /><br />For instance, a recent <em>Nature</em> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02700-2" data-type="tilCustomLink">study</a> conducted on mice uncovered that the real health <keyword id="4041005" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="benefits-of-fasting" source="Orion">benefits of fasting</keyword> may emerge not during the fast itself, but when one breaks the fast and resumes eating. This refeeding period, according to the study, triggers a surge in stem cell activity that helps repair damage in the intestines.<br /><div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112710079" title="What habits do the world&amp;#39;s oldest people have that help them live so long and healthily?" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>Ömer Yilmaz and his team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (<keyword id="54274" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mit" source="Orion">MIT</keyword>) revealed that <keyword id="19896839" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="stem-cells" source="keywords">stem cells</keyword> in the intestines multiplied at the highest rate when mice were allowed to eat again after a 24-hour fast. These stem cells are crucial for repairing and regenerating the intestinal lining, thanks to the production of molecules known as polyamines, which are essential for cell growth and division. Yilmaz points out that while the emphasis has often been on the duration of fasting, the refeeding phase is equally important and warrants closer attention.<br /><br />However, this <keyword id="22959930" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="regenerative-process" source="keywords">regenerative process</keyword> comes with a concerning downside: an increased risk of developing <keyword id="22959932" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="precancerous-polyps" source="Orion">precancerous polyps</keyword> if a cancer-causing genetic change occurs during this vulnerable time.<br /><br />The same stem cells that aid in tissue repair are also prone to becoming precancerous if a cancerous gene is activated during the refeeding period. This finding raises concerns about the potential <keyword id="22959931" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="risks-of-fasting" source="Orion">risks of fasting</keyword>, particularly in individuals who may be genetically predisposed to cancer. Since the study was conducted on mice, researchers like Yilmaz are planning clinical trials for humans to understand their implications on our bodies.<br /><div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112368138" title="A diet of soups and shakes can drastically improve diabetes symptoms — even without medication, real-life study finds" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>Valter Longo, a biogerontologist at the University of Southern California, suggests that while the study highlights a potential risk, it may not apply broadly, especially considering previous research showing that fasting can reduce abnormal cell growth. Nonetheless, the findings underscore the complexity of fasting and refeeding, suggesting that more research is needed to fully understand the balance between the benefits of cellular regeneration and the risks of <keyword id="22786177" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cancer-development" source="keywords">cancer development</keyword>.<br />

Is fasting good for you? A new study reveals some hidden risks and benefits of the practice

<ul class="summary-list"><li>President Joe <keyword id="60973" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="biden" source="Orion">Biden</keyword> had a small polyp removed during a routine <keyword id="12568614" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="colonoscopy" source="Orion">colonoscopy</keyword>.</li><li>The lesion is similar to a polyp Biden had removed during a 2008 colonoscopy, his physician said.</li></ul><p>During a routine colonoscopy last week, President Joe Biden had a benign lesion removed, according to <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/24/politics/biden-colonoscopy-lesion-removed/index.html">multiple</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/polyp-removed-from-bidens-colon-requires-no-further-action-doctor-says/2021/11/24/7855d1e4-4d95-11ec-b73b-a00d6e559a6e_story.html">media</a> <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/583132-doctor-recommends-routine-surveillance-after-polyp-removed-from">outlets</a>.</p><p>The White House disclosed results from the procedure late Wednesday night and said the 3-millimeter polyp required "no further action."</p><p>Dr. Kevin O'Connor, who has been the president's physician since his time as vice president, announced testing on the polyp revealed it to be a tubular adenoma, a benign lesion.</p><p>O'Connor characterized the growth as "a potentially precancerous lesion" and recommended continued "routine surveillance." The lesion is similar to a polyp Biden had removed during a 2008 colonoscopy, according to the doctor. </p><p>The physician released Biden's results with permission from the president and said he should undergo another colonoscopy in seven to 10 years. </p><p>Biden, who turned 79 on Sunday, also underwent a standard <keyword id="6387800" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="physical" source="Orion">physical</keyword> at <keyword id="12539356" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="walter-reed-medical-center" source="Orion">Walter Reed Medical Center</keyword> last week — his first since being inaugurated in January.</p><p>Following the check-up, the White House released a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/President-Biden-Current-Health-Summary-November-2021.pdf">six-page summary</a> of the president's physical and noted that the lesion had been discovered and removed "without difficulty." The White House also said multiple diverticula, which are small pouches, were removed from Biden's colon during the colonoscopy.</p><p>The procedure, which required anesthesia, meant <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-colonoscopy-transfer-of-power-vice-president-harris-trump-walterreed-2021-11">Biden transferred presidential power to Vice President Kamala Harris</a> for about 85 minutes, marking the first time a woman has held the power in US history.</p><p>The colonoscopy was the same procedure former President <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-walter-reed-visit-colonoscopy-butt-of-joke-book-grisham-2021-9">Donald Trump reportedly hid in 2019</a>, according to former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham. The former aide suggested Trump refused anesthesia and kept his colonoscopy secret in order to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-skipped-anesthesia-to-not-give-pence-temporary-power-book-2021-9">avoid transferring power to Vice President Mike Pence.</a></p><p>Presidents are not required to publicly reveal the results of their annual physicals, according to <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/24/politics/biden-colonoscopy-lesion-removed/index.html">CNN</a>, but many have done so in order to be honest with the American people. Some former presidents, however, have <a href="https://www.history.com/news/5-presidents-who-hid-their-health-issues">chosen to hide their illnesses or medical treatments.</a> </p><p>In a follow-up memo to Biden's Friday procedure, O'Connor said the president "remains fit for duty and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations." The doctor did note two areas he marked for additional observation, including an "increasing frequency and severity of throat clearing and coughing during speaking engagements," and a walking abnormality which causes Biden to appear "perceptibly stiffer and less fluid" than he was a year ago.</p><p>In his follow-up summary, O'Connor said Biden, who is now the oldest person to ever serve as president, remains healthy and fit to serve.</p>

Biden had a benign, 'potentially precancerous' polyp removed during his routine colonoscopy, his doctor said

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Aly Anderson had spent two years caring for her daughter who had been born with a heart condition.</li><li>She told a friend she'd been having stomach pain but couldn't see a doctor without insurance.</li></ul><p>In March 2020, Allison Fadden's childhood friend, Aly Anderson, came to Seattle to take her daughter to an appointment at a hospital in the city. </p><p>While the two friends caught up over lunch, Anderson said she hadn't been feeling well lately.</p><p>"She said she thought she had an ulcer because she'd been having <a href="https://www.insider.com/guides/health/conditions-symptoms/stomach-ache">stomach pain</a>," Fadden said. "But she thought it was all stress-related."</p><p>Anderson had been under incredible stress after two years of trying to keep her baby alive. Her third child, Lila, had been born in 2018 with a <a href="https://www.insider.com/guides/parenting/what-is-congenital-heart-disease">congenital heart condition</a>. As doctors at Seattle Children' Hospital did everything they could to save Lila's life, Anderson tried to take care of her newborn baby and her two other children. She had worked as a barista and yoga instructor, but she had to stop working to take care of her family during a tumultuous time. </p><h2>She didn't have insurance, so she couldn't be seen by doctors</h2><p>"She was exhausted and stressed," Fadden said.  Concerned about her friend, she asked if Anderson had seen a doctor about the stomach pains. </p><p>"She said she didn't have health insurance — that it was really expensive," recalled Fadden.</p><p>Although Anderson's husband and children had private insurance, when she stopped working to take care of Lila's health needs, she was no longer insured for medical treatment. Since she was young and healthy, she opted out of her husband's insurance to save money. </p><p>"She figured she would be the last person who would need insurance,"  Fadden said. "I think her own health was on the back burner."</p><p>Taylor Stonack, another of Anderson's friends, described her symptoms as severe stomach pain, vomiting a lot, and loss of appetite. "We all thought it was just stress," Stonack said. </p><h2>She was diagnosed with colon cancer</h2><p>Two months later, in May 2020, Aly phoned Allison to say she was throwing up from what she believed to be an ulcer and that she was getting her husband to take her to the hospital. </p><p>After running scans, the doctors delivered the frightening news. Aly had cancer. Following more scans, doctors diagnosed her with Stage 4 <a href="https://www.insider.com/colon-cancer-red-flag-signs-symptoms-2023-5">colon cancer.</a></p><div type="image" title="Aly Anderson and her friends" height="1989" width="2652" msid="100112176" hostid="261" sizebytes="433828"></div><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/colon-cancer-young-adults-signs-symptoms-risk-quiz-2023-4">Colon cancer</a>, which starts in the colon, typically as a polyp or growth on the inner lining of the colon, is the <a href="https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/about/key-statistics.html#:~:text=Excluding%20skin%20cancers%2C%20colorectal%20cancer,new%20cases%20of%20rectal%20cancer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">third most common cancer diagnosed</a> in both men and women in the US and the second most common cause of cancer deaths among men and women. </p><p>Symptoms may include a change in bowel habits, pressure in the bowels, bleeding during bowel movements, stomach cramping, and unexplained weight loss. </p><p>"Unfortunately, many of these symptoms can be attributed to a host of other reasons or diseases, so we are always looking for what's abnormal," said <a href="https://streaklinks.com/BbpbWx94OMNyHWUloAV1ZJK2/https%3A%2F%2Fnam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.linkedin.com%252Fin%252Fshanelbb%252F%26data%3D05%257C01%257CShanel.Bhagwandin%2540jupitermed.com%257Ca10c0eaffb8541f069a308db26605de4%257Cdd5dd4044a0844fa8f3e8a82dae135d9%257C0%257C0%257C638145967561583838%257CUnknown%257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%253D%257C3000%257C%257C%257C%26sdata%3D%252F7nrNkof9HcMIq4CJwKdu%252BOIxIq9uupKM6g5pLdSnak%253D%26reserved%3D0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shanel Bhagwandin</a>, Medical Director of the Gastrointestinal Surgical Oncology Program and Vice Chief of Surgery at Jupiter Medical Center. "Often, colorectal cancers don't have many or any symptoms until it has grown or spread which is why it is highly recommended that you know your personal risk factors for colorectal cancers and when you should start screening with a colonoscopy. Removing pre-cancerous growths is one of the best ways to ensure the disease does not develop," Bhagwandin said. </p><p>Bhagwandin said the best thing a person can do to remove much of the risk of colon cancer progressing is to get a colonoscopy. </p><p>"While it isn't something anyone wants to do, the main message is that we highly recommend colonoscopies as a screening tool to detect colorectal cancers," Bhagwandin said. "They can save lives."</p><p>Stonack doesn't think that having insurance would've changed anything in Aly's story. "Insurance is a luxury for many, but with the screening age for colon cancer being 45, we aren't sure that it would have made a difference, and it didn't run in Aly's family where they could have advocated for earlier screening," Stonack said. </p><h2>She died in 2023</h2><p>"She fought like hell," said Fadden about her friend Aly. "She had 56 rounds of chemo over three years."</p><p>After battling with the state and insurance companies to get her own treatment and care for three years, Aly died at the beginning of March 2023.  </p><p>Stonack added, "Aly's biggest wish from this is to help others by advocating for yourself for early screening or to just schedule your Colon Screening the day you turn 45."</p>

A mom spent 2 years taking care of her sick daughter. She thought she was just stressed but then discovered she had stage 4 colon cancer and died.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Guardant Health said that its blood test to screen for cancer caught 83% of colorectal cancer cases.</li><li>Guardant says this could unlock an $20 billion market for colorectal cancer screenings.</li></ul><p>A new era in cancer screening could be starting soon. </p><p>Instead of having to undergo uncomfortable procedures like colonoscopies, it might be possible to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cancer-detecting-blood-tests-are-set-to-hit-the-market-by-2022-2021-10">detect cancer from a simple blood</a> draw — also known as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-liquid-biopsies-could-help-treat-cancer-2016-6">a liquid biopsy</a>. On Thursday, Silicon Valley-based biotech Guardant Health announced that its blood-based cancer screening test correctly caught colorectal cancer cases in 83% of people who had the disease. It also correctly predicted that people did not have colorectal cancer 90% of the time. </p><p>In <a href="https://investors.guardanthealth.com/press-releases/press-releases/2022/Guardant-Health-announces-positive-results-from-pivotal-ECLIPSE-study-evaluating-a-blood-test-for-the-detection-of-colorectal-cancer/default.aspx">a press release</a>, the company said that it would use these study findings to submit the test for FDA approval in the first quarter of 2023.</p><p>"We've been working steadily for many years to reach this milestone," Guardant Health co-CEO AmirAli Talasaz said in an investor call on Thursday evening. "As of today, blood-based CRC screening is a reality." </p><h2>Guardant's stock tumbled after the results were announced </h2><p>Not everyone was excited about the trial's results, and <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/gh-stock">Guardant's stock tumbled 27%</a> on Friday morning. SVB Securities analyst Puneet Souda said that while the results are likely good enough for the test to gain approval, it won't be a first choice for colorectal cancer screening.</p><p>That's in part because the test was only able to correctly detect advanced adenomas, or noncancerous tumors that indicate a risk for colorectal cancer, 13% of the time. A competing product called Cologuard is more effective at detecting similar types of precancerous lesions, using a stool sample. The <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/exas-stock">stock of Exact Sciences</a>, which makes Cologuard, climbed 26%.</p><p>Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers in the US, <a href="https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/about/key-statistics.html">according to the American Cancer Society</a>, with almost 45,000 new cases diagnosed each year. It's also deadly — it's the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in both men and women, and is expected to cause more than 52,000 deaths in 2022. In 2020, it was the cause of death of <a href="https://www.insider.com/black-panther-wakanda-forever-chadwick-boseman-death-tchalla-explained-2022-11#after-his-death-the-film-shows-a-funeral-for-tchalla-2">Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman</a>.</p><p>But <a href="https://www.insider.com/colon-cancer-risk-factors-lack-fiber-genes-red-meat-drinking-2022-6">colorectal cancer is also preventable</a>, and the death rate has been steadily dropping thanks to increased screenings in the past several decades. Currently <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/colorectal/basic_info/screening/index.htm">the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends</a> that adults in the US start getting screened for colorectal cancer at age 45 using a variety of screening tests, such as stool tests, sigmoidoscopies and colonoscopies. People who aren't at high risk for colon cancer need a colonoscopy once every 10 years.</p><h2><strong>The study results could still unlock a multi-billion dollar market</strong></h2><div type="image" title="HelmyHeadshotWeb" height="600" width="800" msid="96264161" hostid="261"></div>Guardant's late-stage clinical trial, called ECLIPSE, is the most robust study to date showing the effectiveness of a blood-based screening test for cancer. The test works by detecting tiny particles called <a href="https://www.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/liquid-biopsies--understanding-ctdna-and-circulating-tumor-cells.h00-159463212.html">circulating tumor DNA</a>, or ctDNA, that are shed by cancerous tumors into the bloodstream. <p>The ECLIPSE trial tested the company's blood test, called Shield, on more than 20,000 patients.</p><p>In the Thursday investor call, Guardant estimated that the total market for the colorectal cancer screening alone could be $20 billion. </p><p>The company already has several products on the market, including <a href="https://guardanthealth.com/products/tests-for-patients-with-advanced-cancer/">Guardant360CDx</a>, an FDA-approved blood test to test cancer genomic markers that could help show what treatments the cancers are susceptible to. Additionally, Shield is already available in a limited number of doctors offices.<strong> </strong></p><p>The company also expects that the test will be included in national colorectal cancer screening guidelines by 2026. </p><p>According to the research firm Sentieo, Talasaz has said at multiple conferences that the cash price of the test will be $895. </p><p>It remains to be seen who will be on the hook for paying for these tests. Guardant does not yet know whether the blood test will be covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance companies, though the test is accurate enough that coverage seems likely <a href="https://www.cms.gov/medicare-coverage-database/view/ncacal-decision-memo.aspx?proposed=N&amp;NCAId=299">according to guidelines for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services</a>.</p><p>Five years from today, Talasaz told Insider in October, "We could have a blood-based screening test for colon cancer using blood for over 130 million people in the United States with no out of pocket cost."</p><h2>Are colonoscopies a thing of the past?</h2><p>Unfortunately, a blood-based test won't be completely replacing colonoscopies any time soon.</p><p>Colonoscopies are still the gold standard of colorectal cancer screening, despite involving sedation and hours of <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/preparing-for-a-colonoscopy">unpleasant physical preparation</a>. That's because, Souda told Insider in a May interview, colonoscopies are an interventional procedure as well as a diagnostic procedure. In other words, not only are they a screening tool, but they can also be used to snip off <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/colon-polyps/symptoms-causes/syc-20352875">precancerous polyps</a> if they are found.</p><p>But liquid biopsies are a more comfortable test. Talasaz said that in doctors offices that are already using the blood test, more than 90% of patients are willing to take the test — compared to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/colorectal/statistics/use-screening-tests-BRFSS.htm">about 70% of eligible patients</a> that get current forms of screening. And more patients screened means more chances for early cancer to be detected, and lives to be saved.</p><h2><strong>Guardant is the first in a series of companies working on similar tests</strong></h2><div type="image" title="Kevin Conroy Businesswire" height="1524" width="2028" msid="96264162" hostid="261"></div>Guardant is the first company to cross the finish line with a late-stage clinical trial to validate its liquid biopsy test. Other biotech companies including <a href="https://www.freenome.com/largest-clinical-study-validating-a-blood-based-colorectal-screening-test-completes-enrollment">Freenome</a>, <a href="https://www.nhs-galleri.org/about-the-trial/trial-team#whoAreTheChiefInvestigatorsForTheTrial">GRAIL</a>, and <a href="https://www.exactsciences.com/Pipeline-and-Data/Colorectal-Cancer-Blood">Exact Sciences</a> are also developing their own liquid biopsy tests to detect early-stage colorectal cancer. <p>And while colorectal cancer is the first cancer that is being studied for a blood-based screening, it certainly won't be the last. In January, Guardant <a href="https://investors.guardanthealth.com/press-releases/press-releases/2022/Guardant-Health-Enrolls-First-Patient-in-SHIELD-LUNG-Study-to-Evaluate-Accuracy-of-Its-Blood-Test-to-Detect-Lung-Cancer-in-High-Risk-Adults/default.aspx">enrolled its first patient</a> into a clinical trial to determine whether it could use its blood test to detect lung cancer in high-risk adults. </p><p>Not all cancers will be able to be detected via blood though, because not all tumors shed DNA into the bloodstream. "There are certain cancers that are just not going to be amenable to liquid biopsy," Souda said. </p><p><em>This article was updated on December 16, 2022 with analyst comments and stock reactions for Guardant and Exact Sciences.</em></p>

A Silicon Valley biotech just showed a simple blood test can detect a hidden and deadly type of cancer. But the results fell short of investors' hopes.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Metformin, an inexpensive, decades-old pill, helps treat diabetes and aids weight loss.</li><li>Some research suggests it may also help blunt the effects of aging, preventing cancers and dementia.</li></ul><p>When Dana Bowling started taking metformin in 2010, she wasn't necessarily interested in losing any weight. The 28-year-old had polycystic ovary syndrome, which was preventing her from ovulating, and she wanted to start a family. </p><p>Her doctor prescribed metformin, <a href="https://www.insider.com/what-is-metformin-2019-4">a decades-old diabetes drug</a> that costs about 10 to 20 cents a pill, to <a href="https://www.uptodate.com/contents/metformin-for-treatment-of-the-polycystic-ovary-syndrome" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trigger her cycle</a>. Within months, Bowling had lost 10 pounds – a significant difference on her 5-foot frame.</p><p>"I feel like it fell off of me," she told Insider of the weight loss. "And I don't remember changing my diet."</p><div type="image" title="dana bowling in 2010 vs now side by side" height="603" width="700" msid="97774873" hostid="261"></div><p>People who take metformin can lose <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17145742/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">from five</a> to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23147210/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">15 pounds</a> on average, as the drug changes the way the body regulates blood sugar, often decreasing a person's appetite. In short, it mimics the benefits of fasting and exercise by stimulating a key cellular cleanup and renewal process in the body called autophagy and rejiggering a person's <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190115111944.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">metabolism</a>. The most common side effect of the drug is an upset stomach.</p><p>The World Health Organization views the once-daily pill as a critical public-health tool in the fight against type 2 diabetes, listing it as one of the <a href="https://list.essentialmeds.org/medicines/191" target="_blank" rel="noopener">essential medicines</a> that should be on hand in any well-functioning modern healthcare system. </p><p>An <a href="https://khn.org/news/patients-experiment-with-prescription-drugs-to-fight-aging/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increasing number of doctors and scientists</a> also have a hunch that this $5-a-month drug — derived from a compound found more than a hundred years ago in common French lilacs — could do more than help patients shed pounds and improve their blood sugar. They think it can <a href="https://academic.oup.com/lifemedi/article/1/2/103/6658810" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slow down aging</a>.</p><p>Metformin's effects on metabolism, cells, and the way our body fights viruses has drawn the interest of biohackers, academics, and clinicians, with some calling it <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/this-pill-promises-to-extend-life-for-a-nickel-a-pop/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a "wonder drug."</a> They believe it might <a href="https://lifespanbook.com/metformin-pill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">improve how we age</a>, slowing the arrival of <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(16)30229-7?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS1550413116302297%3Fshowall%3Dtrue#:~:text=metformin%20use%20is%20associated%20with%20reduced%20cancer%20incidence%20and%20mortality" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cancer</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24577463/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cognitive decline</a>, and <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaophthalmology/fullarticle/2775160#:~:text=Meaning%20The%20use%20of%20metformin,have%20no%20effective%20preventive%20measures." target="_blank" rel="noopener">vision loss</a> in older adults. </p><p><a href="https://blueprint.bryanjohnson.co/#step-2-supplements:~:text=Metformin%20ER%201%2C500%20(Rx)" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bryan Johnson</a>, a wealthy software entrepreneur who <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-01-25/anti-aging-techniques-taken-to-extreme-by-bryan-johnson#:~:text=and%20skin%20health%3B-,metformin,-to%20prevent%20bowel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently made headlines</a> for his extreme anti-aging routine, said he is using the drug to prevent precancerous bowel polyps from popping up in his colon and rectum. (Some studies suggest that diabetes patients who take metformin <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4204699/#:~:text=The%20detection%20rates%20of%20both,are%20precursor%20lesions%20of%20CRC." target="_blank" rel="noopener">develop fewer colonic polyps</a>, while others show the drug may <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?postID=63e24808aa84991e03119352&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41419-022-04649-4%23%3A~%3Atext%3DMultiple%2520evidence%2520shows%2520that%2520metformin%2Cmechanisms%2520still%2520require%2520detailed%2520investigation." target="_blank" rel="noopener">suppress colorectal-cancer growth</a>.) </p><p>David Sinclair, a biologist and well-known researcher on aging, says in his book, <a href="https://lifespanbook.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Lifespan,"</a> that he takes a gram of metformin every morning along with his yogurt with the hope it will help regulate his metabolism and keep his organs healthier and younger. </p><div type="image" title="david sinclair in a mask, holding a beaker" height="3150" width="2100" msid="97774876" hostid="261"></div><p>Metformin is also showing promise as a prophylactic against severe COVID and long COVID. In a large-scale<a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2201662" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> study</a> released in 2022, a group of more than 660 overweight people who took metformin as a preventative measure against the virus were less likely to get severely ill and develop long COVID than their peers. Those antiviral benefits could extend beyond COVID, too: In one <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36575139/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">large 2022 study of US veterans</a> with pneumonia, the ones who took metformin were less likely to die.</p><p>While researchers don't yet understand exactly how metformin affects aging and disease, it's safe to say it's doing something. </p><h2><strong>Metformin is commonly used for treating diabetes via weight loss — but an anti-aging researcher believes it can do more</strong></h2><p><strong></strong></p><div type="image" title="french lilac" height="1400" width="2100" msid="97774880" hostid="261"></div><p>Carolyn Bramante, a metformin researcher who works in weight-management clinics at the University of Minnesota, says she prescribes metformin "quite often" for her patients with diabetes, prediabetes, and weight issues. </p><p>It doesn't work for everyone who wants to lose excess weight, but some patients lose up to "10% of their starting weight, or a little more," she said. </p><p>That's how Nir Barzilai first encountered metformin about eight years ago, when he was prescribed the drug to curb prediabetes and excess weight. </p><p>These days, Barzilai is leaner — and he's still taking metformin. The 67-year-old, who directs the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, believes the drug can serve as a kind of prophylactic for aging, helping people stay healthier, longer.</p><p>"I'm not prediabetic anymore, I'm not obese anymore, but I'm not taking out metformin," he said. "The evidence is, in my mind, so overwhelming." </p><p>In <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32333835/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a 2020 paper</a> he coauthored in the journal <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32333835/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cell Metabolism</a>, Barzilai lays out the ways in which metformin can improve the way cells behave in an aging body. Studies suggest the drug delays stem-cell aging, encourages more autophagy, and reduces telomere shortening, all of which deter the effects of aging. The paper also provides evidence that metformin can prevent processes that encourage disease, like oxidative stress. </p><p>For all these reasons, metformin has become a daily routine not just among Silicon Valley biohackers — many <a href="https://khn.org/news/patients-experiment-with-prescription-drugs-to-fight-aging/#:~:text=He%20estimates%20about%205%20percent%20of%20his%20patients%20are%20doctors%20themselves.%20Others%20have%20backgrounds%20in%20science%20or%20are%20in%20the%20upper%2Dincome%20bracket" target="_blank" rel="noopener">well-heeled doctors</a> are now taking the drug, too. </p><h2>An infectious-disease expert takes metformin for weight management</h2><p>David Boulware, an infectious disease expert who conducts research on metformin with Bramante in Minnesota, says he started taking the drug "off and on" about six months ago. He'd contracted COVID, and he knew — based on his <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2201662" target="_blank" rel="noopener">own team's research</a>, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2022 — that there was a real possibility it could have antiviral benefits. He hoped it would reduce the odds he'd have a severe case of the coronavirus and end up in the hospital. </p><p>Then he "researched it a bit more" and decided to stay on metformin for weight management. He's lost 10 pounds so far, and he'd like to lose 10 more. </p><p>Boulware isn't yet convinced there's good scientific evidence that metformin on its own can help people live longer, healthier lives. Most scientific studies of metformin for age-related issues like <a href="https://bjo.bmj.com/content/early/2022/02/02/bjophthalmol-2021-319641" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blurry eyesight</a> or <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1568163717301472" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cancer</a> suggest it's possible that the drug might have decent anti-aging properties, but they tend to have boilerplate language in them about how the evidence is inconclusive, or stressing that more research is needed. </p><p>The drug has shown <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23521863/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anti-aging effects</a> on roundworms, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26990999/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mice</a>, and fruit flies, but that doesn't automatically translate to good news for humans. And almost all of the evidence for metformin's benefits for people has been done on patients with type 2 diabetes, not those with normal blood sugar. </p><p>But at the very least, Boulware thinks that maintaining a healthy weight <em>is </em>good for aging — and metformin can help with that.</p><p>"If you're not obese, will you live longer? Yes," he said. "Having a healthy weight is a good thing."</p><h2><strong>A major metformin study could spawn a whole new field of anti-aging drugs</strong></h2><p><strong></strong></p><div type="image" title="nir barzilai at einstein college of medicine, in lab coat" height="1738" width="1600" msid="97779600" hostid="261"></div><p>Barzilai is currently working to launch a first-of-its-kind study that he's dubbed "Targeting Aging with Metformin," or TAME. He wants to conduct a large, randomized, controlled trial of 3,000 older adults at 14 medical centers around the country, to finally answer the question: Can metformin help people stay healthy and sharp in late life? </p><p>Once TAME is funded (Barzilai has raised about $23 million of the $75 million he needs for the five-year trial), it'll assess metformin's impact on the incidence of a cluster of age-related diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer's.</p><p>"We're looking at one disease at a time, not understanding that the biology of aging drives the diseases," he said. "If we can stop the biology of aging, we have less diseases. And that's a wonderful indication." </p><p>At the moment, insurance companies and FDA scientists don't recognize aging as a condition, and big pharmaceutical companies, as a result, aren't that interested in "treating" it. If successful, Barzilai's study would be the first for the FDA to consider as evidence for a new class of anti-aging drugs, called "geroprotectors," which have never been medically approved in the US before. </p><p>The regenerative-medicine scientist and aging expert Marco Quarta said that TAME could be an exciting first step toward establishing credibility for the field, as the first large clinical trial "really looking at aging as a syndrome."</p><p>"It really can pave the way for a new approach," said Quarta, the CEO and co-founder of <a href="http://rubedolife.com/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rubedo Life Sciences</a>, a startup developing anti-aging medicines. "This is an exciting, emerging new field."</p><h2><strong>Taking metformin for aging has risks, especially for young people</strong></h2><p><strong></strong></p><div type="image" title="toned woman in park, getting ready to run" height="1400" width="2100" msid="97774882" hostid="261"></div><p>But until there are clearer studies, Quarta thinks people should be careful with metformin for anti-aging. "It's not a magic pill," he said. </p><p>Some people lose lots of weight on metformin; others don't see an impact. It can cause rare issues like <a href="https://www.endocrinepractice.org/article/S1530-891X(20)40209-5/pdf#:~:text=Although%20rare%2C%20metformin%20can%20be%20responsible%20for%20inducing%20liver%20damage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">liver damage</a> and lactic-acid buildup in the bloodstream. And it's been shown to lower <a href="https://twitter.com/NirBarzilaiMD/status/1617527420474781698" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testosterone</a> and inhibit muscle growth. (One 2022 study also suggests it can <a href="https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2022/03/birth-defects-diabetes-drug.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">harm men's sperm in a way that increases the risk of birth defects</a>.)</p><p>"I would always suggest people be careful until we have done the studies to prove or disprove that metformin can be beneficial, and who can benefit from metformin in which conditions," Quarta said.</p><p>Barzilai himself believes that for now, off-label metformin for longevity should be limited to those already experiencing the effects of aging. "I am horrified to learn that young people (&lt;40) without diabetes would consider taking metformin for longevity," he said in <a href="https://twitter.com/NirBarzilaiMD/status/1617527414988632066" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a recent tweet</a>, echoing the concerns about the drug's effects on testosterone and muscle. </p><p>But when it comes to people of a certain age, Barzilai isn't waiting for his own trial results. He encourages his older friends and family to go ahead and ask their doctors about metformin now. Both he and his wife take it regularly. </p><p>"More and more so, the evidence is really overwhelming," he said. At this point, "I'm feeling the FDA is really a pain in the butt."</p><p><em>If you have an experience taking metformin off-label that you'd like to share, contact reporter Hilary Brueck: <a href="mailto:hbrueck@insider.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hbrueck@insider.com</a></em></p>

People are taking a 20-cent 'wonder drug' to slow aging and lose weight. Some doctors say it's promising.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>After <keyword id="1635781" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Chadwick-Boseman">Chadwick Boseman</keyword>'s tragic death from <keyword id="30253" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="colon-cancer">colon cancer</keyword> at age 43, fans and celebrities lauded everything the "Black Panther" actor accomplished in his too-short life.</li><li>Some people with <keyword id="6355291" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Cancer">cancer</keyword> said they found the discourse was rooted in misconceptions about living with the disease, as if it's a sudden acute illness rather than a <keyword id="6371630" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="disability">disability</keyword>. </li><li>Not everyone can or wants to work through cancer, Walela Nehanda, who has leukemia, told Insider. </li><li>Insider talked to three people who have or have had colon cancer about navigating <keyword id="6354910" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="careers">careers</keyword> and kids while coping with the disease. </li></ul><p>When actor <a href="https://www.insider.com/black-panther-star-chadwick-boseman-dies-of-cancer-age-43-2020-8">Chadwick Boseman</a> died August 28 at the age of 43, after <a href="https://www.insider.com/what-to-know-about-colon-cancer-symptoms-diagnosis-chadwick-boseman">a private four-year battle with colon cancer</a>, fans and celebrities lauded everything he accomplished in his too-short life, including <a href="https://www.insider.com/letitia-wright-spoken-word-eulogy-instagram-video-brother-chadwick-boseman-2020-9">starring in "Black Panther"</a> and the upcoming "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" all while undergoing surgeries and chemotherapy to treat his disease.  </p><p>"A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much," the tweet announcing his death, <a href="https://www.insider.com/tweet-announcing-chadwick-bosemans-death-becomes-most-liked-2020-8">which quickly became the most-liked of all-time</a>, said.</p><p>But for people who have received similar diagnoses, <a href="https://twitter.com/itswalela/status/1300136651256000512">some of the discourse</a> around his life, death, and career seemed to be rooted in <a href="https://www.insider.com/chadwick-boseman-body-shaming-cancer-weight-loss-out-of-context-2020-9">misconceptions about cancer</a> — as if it's a sudden acute illness rather than a disability. That was vocalized on Twitter by <a href="https://www.itswalela.com/">Walela Nehanda</a>, a poet and community organizer living with another type of cancer, leukemia.</p><p>Many such conversations "have reduced all of his gifts to 'in spite of his cancer,' and that negates that cancer patients have always been able to do wondrous things," Nehanda told Insider, adding: "Perhaps what bars people from seeing that is their ableism."</p><p>While many people can thrive in their careers while living with cancer, others can't work or choose not to. </p><p>"Everyone copes, navigates, and experiences cancer differently," Nehanda said. "We cannot be expected to be Chadwick Bosemans. He was our anomaly. His work was brilliant and his work was extraordinary, but he was also more than his work ethic." </p><p>Insider spoke to three people who've had or are living with colon cancer about their experiences balancing a career and the illness. They're all volunteers with <a href="https://www.colonclub.com/">the Colon Club</a>, an organization that raises awareness about colorectal cancers in young people. </p><h2><strong>Rob Vite worked soon after he lost most of his large intestine at 32, but had navigate going to the bathroom 20 times a day </strong></h2><div type="image" title="Rob Vite" height="600" width="800" msid="77951551" hostid="261"></div><p>Rob Vite was 32 when he was first diagnosed with stage 2 <keyword id="6386751" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Colorectal-cancer">colorectal cancer</keyword>. It hit especially hard because his diagnosis fell on what would have been his mother's 53rd birthday had she not passed away from cancer when she was 50. </p><p>His wife Jade was pregnant with his second child at the time. Fearing he wouldn't see the birth of his second child, he decided to take an aggressive approach to his treatment plan. </p><p>Because Vite also had <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/genomics/disease/colorectal_cancer/lynch.htm#:~:text=Lynch%20syndrome%2C%20also%20known%20as,age%20(before%2050)%2C%20including">Lynch Syndrome</a> — a genetic disease that makes people far more susceptible to developing colorectal cancer — he didn't want to risk developing cancer in his large intestine again. </p><p>So Vite had most of his large intestine removed, leaving him with only inches of what typically is a 5-foot organ. </p><p>"I'm aggressive by nature," Vite told Insider. "So I didn't want to have to deal with this again."</p><p>Vite worked for a majority of his recovery, coaching football for Seminole High School and teaching classes. Because he opted to not have an <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/colon-cancer/in-depth/ostomy/art-20045825">ostomy bag</a> — a bag that can hold stool in the place of a large intestine — Vite initially was having to use the restroom 15 to 20 times a day as he worked. </p><p>"For me, going to work was my safe haven. I didn't have to think about colorectal cancer for those few hours," Vite told Insider. "So for me, that was my healing, but everyone heals differently, right?" </p><p>While Vite worked through his recovery, he said he is frustrated by the online discourse that seemed to suggest Boseman's ability to work during his treatment should be a benchmark, or even a rule, for all cancer patients. </p><p>"We all handle things differently. I'll never judge, but the difference is I have a voice to say that because I walked the walk," Vite said. "It's easy to say what someone shouldn't do or should do but you never did it. It's the same thing when it comes to social injustices."</p><p>He added: "If you're not a minority, you don't know how it feels. So just say 'I hear you' and shut up." </p><p>Instead, he hopes people remember Boseman's legacy and spread awareness about colorectal cancer — <a href="https://fightcolorectalcancer.org/colorectal-cancer/facts-stats/#:~:text=Colorectal%20cancer%20is%20the%202nd,date%20with%20colorectal%20cancer%20screening.">the second leading cause of death in the US.</a></p><p>"Out of respect for him and respect for all the ones we lost, I hope the momentum could keep going and it can, it can bring awareness," Vite said. </p><h2>Evelyn Keener felt pressured to go back to work during her two-year fight to qualify for disability aid </h2><div type="image" title="Evelyn Keener" height="600" width="800" msid="77951553" hostid="261"></div><p>Evelyn Keener was just eight years old when she had her first brush with colorectal cancer. </p><p>After going to the bathroom and seeing nothing but blood, she was terrified and screamed for her mother. Unbeknownst to Keener, her mother had been preparing for that day since the day she was born. </p><p>Her doctors had warned her mother from a young age that Keener was at risk for colon cancer because Keener's father has been left with <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/colostomy">a permanent colostomy</a> — a hole cut in the large intestine through the abdomen for stool to drain from — when he was just 10 years old.  </p><p>Like her father, Keener has <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16993-familial-adenomatous-polyposis-fap#:~:text=Familial%20adenomatous%20polyposis%20(FAP)%20is%20a%20rare%2C%20hereditary%20condition,teen%20years%20or%20early%2020s.">Familial Adenomatous Polyposis</a> (FAP), a rare hereditary disease where precancerous polyps develop in your large intestine. FAP patients essentially have a 100% chance of developing colorectal cancer sometime in their life; it's simply a matter of when. </p><p>"As an eight-year-old, things were happening that I didn't understand," Keener said. "I didn't have a voice." </p><p>That was the first of many times Keener, now 49, was diagnosed with stage zero colon cancer — in her childhood, in her 20s, and in her 40s. Each time was debilitating; each interfering with every aspect of her life. She would be hospitalized with flare-ups of polyps lining her colon, requiring multiple surgeries. Twice, surgeons constructed an ileostomy (connecting her small intestine to a bag outside of her body), and twice they had to reverse it. </p><p>But it wasn't until she was in her 40s, in the best shape of her life, that her life was uprooted, by the disease and by the near-impossible circus of healthcare and disability benefits.</p><p>About two months after getting married in 2015, Keener developed debilitating pain in her lower abdomen, and she was diagnosed as ovarian cysts, a condition she'd had before. She wasn't surprised to hear she would need a full hysterectomy. </p><p>Despite working part-time at an office, and part-time getting her own business off the ground, Keener scheduled a couple of weeks off, to cover part of the month-long healing period. But it turned into a mountain of complications.</p><p>When the doctors went in to remove her uterus, Keener said, the doctors realized her small intestine had fused together — a complication from a previous surgery that had gone unnoticed.</p><p>After the surgery, "every day something else was wrong." She was left unable to eat for months, being fed through an IV known as a total parenteral nutrition (TPN). And then came an even bigger battle: finance. </p><p>After her medical leave time ran out, Keener had to give up her part-time position and file for disability leave to help support her family and cover medical bills.</p><p>She waited for four months — her case still pending, her husband still shouldering all of their finances, with some help from family and friends — before deciding she had to go back to work, whether she was physically ready or not.</p><p>"My attorney said if I went back to work the judge would throw out my disability case," Keener told Insider. "You're damned if you do, damned if you don't." To keep her case valid, she could only work under 15 hours a week. </p><p>Keener found a position as hostess at a restaurant.</p><p>Working through extreme hot flashes, dizziness, fatigue, and being fed through the TPN she kept in a small backpack, Keener kept the job for almost two years until her disability claim was finally approved. </p><p>Though her condition has improved, Keener said she and many other cancer survivors like her are rushed to go back to work before they are ready. </p><h2>Shannon Costello is raising three kids while managing the high likelihood of recurrence </h2><div type="image" title="Shannon Costello" height="1196" width="797" msid="77951555" hostid="261"></div><p>When Shannon Costello visited her then-third-grade son's open house last year, she saw her name listed on his locker. His mom was one of his heroes, it said, because she'd beaten colon cancer. </p><p>"That tore my heart apart because I felt like he shouldn't have to say that," Costello, a 34-year-old stay-at-home mom in Monroe, Michigan, told Insider.</p><p>But for her sons, now aged three, six, and nine, their mom's experience with cancer and continued monitoring to catch a likely recurrence has been a part of their life. </p><p>Pre-coronavirus, they often tagged along to advocacy events and doctor's visits, including her quarterly blood work and oncology visits. In total, Costello's <keyword id="6354750" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="health">health</keyword> care team includes about 10 doctors. </p><p>She's in awe of Boseman's output while treating the illness. "I have no idea how this wonderful person dealt with that through filming movies, through visiting children, through putting so much positivity into the world," she said. </p><p>Costello was diagnosed with stage 2 colon cancer five years ago at age 29. The diagnoses "blindsided" her and her husband, who were days away from a vacation to celebrate her fifth wedding anniversary.  </p><p>But today Costello, whose mom had colon cancer at age 44 and uncle died from the disease, considers herself lucky: She underwent surgery, but not chemotherapy or radiation, to treat the illness and is now cancer free. During her care, she learned she has <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/genomics/disease/colorectal_cancer/lynch.htm">Lynch Syndrome</a> — the same condition Rob Vite has. Her kids have a 60% chance of inheriting the condition. </p><p>"My goal is to keep them educated and keep them on top of it, so in the event that something does happen, they can take care of themselves in the best way possible." </p><p>Boseman's death sent "shockwaves" through the colorectal cancer community, Costello said.</p><p>"A lot of us deal with survivor's guilt," she said. "Why did this person pass away when they've contributed so much more than I have? Why does this person have such a harder time with this than I have? Why am I here and they're not? Why did they have to go through that and I'm not?"  </p><p>She hopes the tragedy will lead to more awareness around the fact that the disease doesn't only affect old people.</p><p>"Knowing symptoms are important, screenings are important, but the most important thing is to realize that it can really happen at any age," she said, "and people shouldn't be dismissed just because of how 'young' they are." </p><ul class="read-more-links"><li><strong>Read more:</strong></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/tweet-announcing-chadwick-bosemans-death-becomes-most-liked-2020-8">Chadwick Boseman's last tweet has become the most-liked of all time, Twitter confirms</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/where-to-watch-chadwick-boseman-best-movies-netflix-disney-google-2020-8">Where to watch some of Chadwick Boseman's best performances from 'Black Panther' to '42'</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/denzel-washington-remembers-chadwick-boseman-brilliant-artist-paid-acting-school-2020-8">Denzel Washington, who once paid to send Chadwick Boseman to acting classes, remembers him as a 'brilliant artist'</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/chadwick-boseman-body-shaming-cancer-weight-loss-out-of-context-2020-9">The body-shaming Chadwick Boseman experienced is a reminder to think twice before commenting on a celebrity's weight loss</a></li></ul>

Chadwick Boseman worked through colon cancer. 3 other people with the illness talked to Insider about what that's really like.

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Jonathan Bachman/AP</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>The American Cancer Society has issued new guidelines that suggest people should start getting screened for colon and rectal <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/cancer">cancers</a> at age 45 instead of 50.</strong></li><li><strong>The new guidelines were issued based on a disconcerting rise in rates of these types of cancers, known as colorectal cancers, in young people.</strong></li><li><strong>Someone born around 1990 is now four times more likely to develop rectal cancer than someone born around 1950.</strong></li><li><strong>There are various types of screening tests that work.</strong></li></ul><p><br />Colon and rectal cancer disease rates are rising quickly for young people - between 1991 and 2014, rectal cancer rates for people between the ages of 20 and 49 doubled. According to one analysis, someone born around 1990 is twice as likely to develop colon cancer as a person born in 1950, and four times as likely to develop rectal cancer. </p><p>This spike has led the American Cancer Society (ACS) to recommend that people start getting screened for colorectal cancer - a term often used to describe colon and rectal cancers - at age 45 instead of 50, the society <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.3322/caac.21457">announced Wednesday</a>.</p><p>Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer diagnosed in adults and the <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/types/common-cancers">second leading cause</a> of cancer deaths, behind only lung cancer.</p><p>For decades, colorectal cancer death rates for patients aged 55 have been in decline. That change has been attributed to healthy lifestyle changes and more widespread screening. But in recent years, colon and especially rectal cancer rates have started to rise among a younger demographic. And researchers don't yet know why it's happening.</p><h2>A search for explanations</h2><p>It's worth noting that overall case numbers still aren't high for people aged 20 to 49 - rates in that group went from 2.6 per 100,000 people to 5.2 cases. But the change is disconcerting. The biggest increases have been seen in white Americans, who typically have lower rates of colorectal cancer than black Americans and some Native American groups.</p><p>As the ACS researchers explained in the paper announcing the new screening guidelines, the rise in colon and rectal cancer cases cannot simply be explained by the fact that screening is more common, so more cases are being found. People in this younger age range are not often screened, and death rates for young people are increasing, too.</p><p>A study in the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jnci/article/109/8/djw322/3053481">Journal of the National Cancer Institute discussing the changing disease rates</a> noted that young people who are developing these cancers are in many ways healthier than they used to be. They drink and smoke less, but they have higher obesity rates, which increases the risk for colorectal cancers.</p><p>The authors also think diet could play a role, with a Western-style high-fat, low-fiber diet increasing cancer risks. But there may be other, not-yet-known explanations as well.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Francis J DeAsis/Shutterstock</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Different types of screenings - it's not just a colonoscopy</h2><p>Catching colon and rectal early can make a big difference, since pre-cancerous polyps - abnormal growths in the colon or rectum - can be removed. With early detection, these cancers have high cure rates.</p><p>But about a third of people over 50 never get screened.</p><p>The ACS's new guidelines suggest that all healthy adults (men and women) should start getting screened for colon and rectal cancers at age 45 instead of 50 and continue doing so through at least age 75. For patients aged 76-85, the ACS says doctors and patients should decide on a case-by-case basis whether it makes sense to continue screening, based on life expectancy and preference. For patients older than 86, the ACS discourages screening.</p><p>A screening for colon or rectal cancer isn't always a colonoscopy, though that is usually needed if another type of test indicates a problem.</p><p>There are six tests the ACS suggests as options for screening. Annual test options include two types that can be done from home - for those, patients collect a stool sample and send it in to be tested. (The scientific names for these tests are fecal immunochemical test and a high-sensitivity, guaiac-based fecal occult blood test.)</p><p>Another option is a multi-target stool DNA test, which is done every three years and also involves collecting a sample at home and sending it in. Every five years, a person could do a computed tomography colonography test (a scan like a CAT scan) or a flexible sigmoidoscopy scan (essentially a tube with a light and camera on it).</p><p>Every 10 years, a colonoscopy is recommended.</p><p>The ACS didn't recommend one specific test, since a general recommendation for screening with different options is more likely to be followed.</p><p>The US Preventative Services Task Force - an independent expert panel that issues recommendations about preventative medical services like screenings -has previously found that there are strengths and weaknesses to different tests. But overall, <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2529492">getting screened using any of these tests reduces mortality rates</a> from colon and rectal cancers when compared to not getting screened.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Kevin Lamarque/Reuters</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Changing guidelines</h2><p>According to the ACS, there's still a "strong recommendation" that adults begin screening at age 50 - that wording means there's good evidence that doing so will help reduce mortality rates.</p><p>The recommendation that people start getting screened at 45 is what the ACS refer sto as a "qualified recommendation." That means researchers still need more data on the effects of screening people at these ages to better understand how the practice affects colorectal cancer diagnoses and patients. But based on the ways colon and rectal cancers have started to affect younger people, the ACS determined that such a change is still important to recommend.</p><p>For now, the US Preventative Services Task Force  recommendations still strongly recommend that people begin screening at age 50.</p><p>As younger patients get screened, there will be more data on how doing so affects colon and rectal cancer disease rates. If current trends continue and more young people continue to develop these forms of cancer, it's possible that some researchers could suggest starting screening even younger.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-happens-people-struck-by-lightning-chances-2018-5">What happens to your body when it's struck by lightning</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

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