WEBVTT - The Rise of Colon Cancer in Young Adults 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:04.200 Ready to support your gut health, Try LifeWay Kaffir. It's 0:00:04.320 --> 0:00:09.080 packed with bioavailable protein and it has twelve probiotic strains 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:12.559 to support digestion. That's double what you'll find in most 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:17.040 yogurt brands. Visit Lifewayfoods dot com to find delicious LifeWay 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:25.120 Kaffir near you. Hi everyone, I'm Kitty Kuric and this 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:32.520 is next question. Hi everyone, Happy International Women's Day. 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:34.960 By the way, did did we mention that? 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:38.040 I'm not sure Stantha did Anyway, Hi, I am so 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:41.720 excited about this panel. I get excited about everything, obviously, 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:48.000 and gut help has really got me jazzed. So microbiome biome, 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:50.840 as you all know, is a real buzzword these days, 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:54.840 but many people don't know what that actually means. And honestly, 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:58.520 I have learned so much just preparing for this panel. 0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:02.040 And what exactly is your microbiome? What role does it 0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:05.399 play in our overall health? As you're about to hear, 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:08.720 it's a pretty big one. And could gut health be 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:14.880 linked to an alarming uptick in colorectal and other digestive 0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:19.200 cancers among young people right now? Not only diagnoses but 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:24.600 also tragically deaths as many of you may know if 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:28.880 you were alive in this far back. I lost my 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:32.800 husband Jay to colon cancer in nineteen ninety eight. He 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:36.160 was forty two years old, our daughters were six and two, 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:41.520 and since then, having felt so powerless during the course 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:44.360 of his nine month illness, I have done everything I 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:48.160 can to encourage people to get screened, even getting an 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:52.320 on air kolonosky on the Today Show back in the 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:55.720 year two thousand, which resulted in a twenty percent increase 0:01:55.840 --> 0:02:03.440 in kolonoscopes nationwide, which was so gratifying. You know, in 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:05.640 the year since, I've tried to keep this issue on 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:07.960 the front burner. I took Jimmy Kimmel to get a 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:10.000 colonoscope a few years ago. 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:12.400 I'm trying to get Kevin Hart to. 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:15.520 Let me take him this year because he just turned 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:18.960 forty five and he hasn't gotten back to me yet. 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:20.480 But I will keep you posted. 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:24.520 But over the last couple of decades, I was the 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:28.400 percentage of colon cancer cases among young people under the 0:02:28.440 --> 0:02:32.440 age of fifty five has doubled. I was particularly struck 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:35.520 by this sentence in a recent Time magazine cover story. 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:39.440 Research suggests that today's young adults are about twice as 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:43.160 likely to be diagnosed with colon cancer and four times 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:46.720 as likely to be diagnosed with rectal cancer as those 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:52.080 born around nineteen fifty, and most young patients are diagnosed 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:55.960 at stage three or four, which makes these cancers even 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:58.000 more difficult to treat. 0:02:58.240 --> 0:02:59.480 So what is. 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:02.720 Behind this disturbing trend? What can we do about it? 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:06.000 Doctor Nancy u is the director of the m d 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:10.640 Anderson Young on Set Collorectal Cancer Program. Doctor Susan Bullman 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:13.840 is an Associate professor in the Department of gastro Intestinal 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:18.240 Medical Oncology. That's a mouthful season at the University of 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:22.480 Texas m d Anderson Cancer Center. Julie Smolansky is the 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:24.840 CEO of Life Wave Foods. 0:03:25.000 --> 0:03:25.720 And I want to. 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:28.680 Get right to it because there's so much important information 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:30.760 that I hope you all will listen to you really 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:35.280 carefully and spread the word with all your friends and 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:38.200 family members because it's so critically important. And we're going 0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:42.040 to turn this into a podcast on my podcast next question, 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:45.720 so hopefully people can listen to our conversation. Who aren't 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:48.720 here this morning, So hi, everybody, Well, let's give them 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:55.480 a round of applause. Another group of kick ass smart women. 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:57.600 All right, Julie, We're going to start with you because 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:00.800 I think your family history and business is so an 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:04.520 extra inextricably linked to gut health. You came to the 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:07.600 US from Ukraine in the middle of the Cold War 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:10.360 in nineteen seventy five. By the way, i'd like to 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:18.320 apologize for our president just parenthetically. Your parents had one 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:22.040 hundred and sixteen dollars to their name. Your mother smartly 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:25.279 noticed that the food in America was very different from 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:28.480 the food and the Soviet Union, and she decided to 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:31.159 do something about that. Can you tell us what she 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:34.719 did and how this set your family on a path 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:35.440 to wellness? 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:36.440 Really? That's right? 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:38.919 Yeah, thank you so much, Katie, thank you all for 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:44.920 joining us at this very busy conference. So exactly, my 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:49.560 parents and I immigrated from the former Soviet Union. When 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:53.560 we settled, we realized, my mother really realized that while 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:58.320 they grew up in scarcity in the Soviet Union, the 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:02.680 foods were very different, and they were you know, typical 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:07.640 food was a quart of kaffir or kiefer and a 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:12.960 loaf of bread, very humble, but very nutritious, nutrient dense, 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:16.039 with a lot of positive attributes so she opened up 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:20.240 the first Russian deli Ukrainian deli in Chicago's Rogers Park, 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:23.919 and then opened up five more throughout the country throughout 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:27.520 Chicago and became an importer and distributor of Eastern European food. 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:32.000 And she was like selling food to Brighton Beach or 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.880 Los Angeles, places where Soviet immigrants were starting to settle 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:39.679 through this mass exodus as the Cold War was winding 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:44.520 down and Peede Stroka started happening, so that launched them 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:47.359 into the food industry. They went to Germany at for 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:51.000 a food buying show, trade show, and there my father 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:54.080 bought three bottles of kaffir in the grocery store. In 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:57.920 Eastern Europe, in Ukraine and the Soviet Union, the Slavic region, 0:05:58.400 --> 0:06:02.039 kaffir was something that was passed down generation to generation 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:05.400 for over two thousand years. Our ancestors consumed it in 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:09.360 the Caucaus Mountains. It was passed down from Babushka to babushka, 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:13.440 grandmother to grandmother, and it was survived by the word 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:17.080 of mouth like what we're doing today talking about the benefits, 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:21.880 and my ancestors intuitively, in their gut experienced a sense 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:25.080 of well being, and they attributed they lived past one 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:28.520 hundred years of age, and they attributed their longevity to 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:32.360 the consumption of kaffir. And it wasn't until nineteen oh 0:06:32.400 --> 0:06:37.320 eight which doctor Elie Metchnikoff. He is growing up in 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:40.039 my household. He was like a rock star. He was 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:44.239 like Eddie Vedder. My father talked to my father talked 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:47.240 about him endlessly. He talked about his research and he 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:51.640 was just the father of an immune system. 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:53.960 And he won a Nobel Prize for this work. 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:58.320 And he studied the impact of fermented milks kaffir on 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:02.000 the body, and he found that there was an important 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:05.360 positive contribution to the overall health. And this was really 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:08.880 the beginning of the gut kind of science that since 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:12.560 then our doctors and doctors all around the world have 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:16.880 been adding onto his original research and really bringing us 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:19.960 to where we are today. But so that's kind of 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:22.720 how it started. And so my dad bought three bottles. 0:07:22.720 --> 0:07:25.800 He tried a bottle and he said, wow, America has everything, 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:28.560 but it doesn't have kaffir. And my mother said, well, 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:31.679 you're an engineer, why don't you design a plant, start 0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:34.280 making it, and I'll sell it through my distribution system. 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:38.920 And six months later, LifeWay Foods was launched in nineteen 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:39.560 eighty six. 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:41.160 So LifeWay caffir you can. 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:44.040 Find it all over the country now in every grocery store. 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:46.880 And two years later he took it public. You know, 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:49.920 it was just the very beginning, but the growth has 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:52.440 been exponential, and I. 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:56.880 Think still people don't know that much about cafir or 0:07:56.960 --> 0:07:58.200 key for how a resaved. 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:00.840 How do you say? We say both, okay, you know, 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:02.920 I'll go keep your You. 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:05.520 Say keefer, I say kafir. Let's get the whole thing off. 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:08.640 Let's not call the whole thing off. But so, how 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:12.640 is keyfer kafir different? What is it exactly? And how 0:08:12.720 --> 0:08:16.640 is it different from other dairy and probiotic products because 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:19.520 it has a little fizziness like what is what is it? 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:22.800 Yeah, so it's a fermented that's a great question. It's 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:26.600 got it's fermented dairy. So it's a special combination of 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:31.280 twelve unique cultures that we inoculate the milk in for 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:34.600 over eighteen hours, could be up to twenty four hours, 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:38.760 and it's inoculated at room temperature. Uh, and then it 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:42.840 creates the reaction between the probiotics and the mill create 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:47.880 a reaction to create this effervescent fermented almost like a bubbly, 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:55.160 tangy taste and process and billions over fifty billion live 0:08:55.280 --> 0:09:00.480 microbes exist in kaffir. It's significantly richer than any other 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:04.559 food products you can buy in those friendly bacterias. Typical 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:08.160 yogurt only has about four cultures or less, and most 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:10.920 of the yogurt in the United States is ultra processed 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:16.080 and pasteurized after fermentation. We pasteurize the milk first, then 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:18.480 we culture, and then we bottle, and so when you 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:21.400 get it sometimes you might even notice the bottle bloats. 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:23.840 That's okay, that means the process is working. You just 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:27.439 open it, let the air out, and drink it. It's fine. Interesting. 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:30.880 Yes, yeah, and you know, I've learned so much about 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:32.960 it, and I'm going to go knock a key bottles down. 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:34.720 I've got that. We all shatter this. 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:38.920 Danel So Susan Vohman, our gut health expert. Before we 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:43.160 talk more about the value of fermented foods, let's first 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:47.800 define the microbiome. So what exactly is it and why 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:49.600 is it so important for overall health? 0:09:49.840 --> 0:09:53.840 Yes, so when we refer to our microbiome, we're talking 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:58.480 about the community or collection of microorganisms that resite on 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:01.840 and within our bodies. Most of these are bacteria, but 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:06.640 also include fungi, viruses, ur KaiA, and they begin colonizing 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:09.520 our body from the moment we're born and remain with 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:13.160 us throughout life. But their composition changes. And if you 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:14.800 were to take your microbiome and you are to put 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:17.120 it on a waging scale, it weighs several pounds really, 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:19.200 so similar to some of our internal organs, like a 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:20.400 spleen or a kidney. 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:23.280 Right, So it's scattered all over your body or is 0:10:23.400 --> 0:10:24.400 most a it located? 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:25.320 Yes, you've got. 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:29.000 Ninety nine percent is within our got largely the colon 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:31.920 and it's here where these microbes they set the stage 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:37.239 for dynamic interactions in human health, including digestion, production of vitamins, 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:41.680 and priming our immune system, and also disease. They're involved 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:44.000 in chronic diseases. If you have a shift in what 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:46.560 your microbiome looks like, so can contribute to cancer. 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:49.880 And I sort of a screw up in your microbiome 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:53.920 can create all kinds of internal problems, but also inflammation, right, 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:57.000 and inflammation is a whole other panel which we'll have 0:10:57.080 --> 0:10:58.079 to do another time. 0:10:58.160 --> 0:10:59.760 But that's called dysbiosis. 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:04.439 What are talking about when the microbiome is out of out. 0:11:04.240 --> 0:11:08.000 Of wax, Yeah, and creates all kinds of medical issues. Well, 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:11.640 I know that ultra So let's talk about how you 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:16.000 know all these external things that are affecting our microbiome. 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:18.120 And then, of course, Nancy, I'm going to talk to 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:21.920 you about early on set colon cancer and other cancers. 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:26.280 But you know, we all hear about ultraprocessed food right, 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:27.559 it's the big buzzword. 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:29.400 But I still think there's confusion. 0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:33.839 What are ultra processed foods versus processed foods versus non 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:34.880 process foods? 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:35.800 So can you help us out? 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:41.359 So? Yes, yes, So these ultraprocessed foods, they're industrially manufactured products. 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:44.160 They have little to know whole foods within them. I 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:47.240 mean you can usually identify them by their lengthy lists 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:51.040 of ingredients. So they'll have things listed like chemical modifiers, additives. 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:56.120 You'll see things like a multifiers, stabilizers, artificial flavors, sweeteners, 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:59.600 and they have very little nutritional value. They don't look 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:02.680 like they naturally should. And the thing is you'll see 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:05.520 them advertiser marketed as convenience. 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:06.640 They're ready to eat. 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:08.360 You know, you can eat them on the go and 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:10.959 they're usually hyper palatable, so they're very tasty because they're 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:12.920 packed full of sugars and salts. 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:17.800 Right, and that salt fat combo that really can be addictive, addreative. 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:20.920 So things that you would recognize as these ultprocessed foods 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:27.440 would be things like sugary drinks. They'd be the snack foods, cookies, candies, crackers, crackers, 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:29.360 some crackers as well. Is a bummer for me. 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:32.040 You can have a look at the ingredients. 0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:34.439 There's some options doers. 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:38.120 Yeah, there's good options. Look at the list exactly. 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:40.240 And then you know meat, certain meats that you would 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:46.040 see and sausages, chicken nuggets even having multifiers and preservatives 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:46.240 with it. 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:48.720 They have a lot of nitrates, right, susan exactly. 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:49.439 So this is the thing. 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:53.080 There's there's the nitrates, nitrites and sulfides. They're the preservatives. 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:55.920 So you'll see them advertisers as having a long shelf 0:12:56.000 --> 0:13:02.000 life and they're pretty much bad, got health and permeability 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:02.240 with them. 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:05.559 What about processed foods, So you've got ultra process right, 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:08.080 and so you don't want to eat those and you 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:10.000 kind of don't want to eat processed foods, right, if 0:13:10.040 --> 0:13:12.920 you can avoid them, what But but what's the difference, 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:17.280 So just the fewer ingredients, there's still a lot of that, there's. 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:20.000 A there's a nova score, right, So there's a specific 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:23.320 way that they can be cashgorized as ultra process versus processed. 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:25.640 So it's got to do with the amount of whole 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:29.240 foods within the production for these food types. 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:32.240 What happens to our gut health or microbiome when we 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:35.439 consume a lot of ultra processed foods, which I guess 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:38.320 are kind of like junk foods, right, but some that 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:41.000 you know, they say are healthy and we'll talk about 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:43.439 that in a moment, But what what does it do 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:46.320 to your healthy but healthy bacteria? 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:48.720 Yeah, so you have to think when you're eating foods, 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:51.000 you're not just eating food for your body, but you're 0:13:51.040 --> 0:13:53.880 also feeding your microbiomes. So these microbes within our got 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:57.199 they are relying on you to supply them with nutrients 0:13:57.400 --> 0:13:59.960 and most of the beneficial microbes they like certain time 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:03.880 of carbohydrates so that they can produce short chain, fasty acids. 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:04.520 That help the guts. 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:07.160 So by consuming many of these ultraprocess foods that are 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.319 typically low and fiber and good sugars. You're not feeding 0:14:10.320 --> 0:14:14.839 your beneficial microbes and you're pushing it towards an inflammatory subtype. 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:16.520 But then that has a knock going to affect on 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:19.760 something like a leaky gush or hyperpermeability in the gush, 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:22.520 which is money and groups have heard about lately. 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:26.480 Right, this gut permeability is really important because your gut 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:30.440 is sort of surrounded by this mucus, right, yes, I know, 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:35.520 good morning, Yeah it's like, but it's surrounded by this 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:40.200 mucus which protects the bad stuff exactly from permeating into 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:42.800 the rest of your body, right exactly. So this this 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:45.880 kind of delicate balance needs to be maintained. 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:49.640 Right, So, if you think about your gut, your intestines, 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:53.040 what you have is a single layer of tichi packed 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:56.320 epithelial cells and they're all the way along your intestines. 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:58.680 And between these epithelial cells you have a little gait 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:03.760 which is called tight junctions between ourselves, and this controls 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:06.720 what nutrients can pass into our circulation, which is very 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:10.840 important when we're digesting food. And then above those epithelial cells, 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:13.240 you have a layer of mucus, and this mucus is 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:17.920 very important because it separates the bacteria and the undigested 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:21.000 food stuffs from actually interacting with those cells. We do 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:24.280 not want bacteria to touch the epithelial cells. But what 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:27.640 we know is when we consume these ultraprocessed foods that 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:31.880 have things like multifiers, so for example polysorbit eighty, that 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:33.040 reduces that. 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:34.160 Mucus layer right. 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:37.520 And then also you now have these microbes touching the 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:42.120 epithelial cells. You havessed or undigested fruit products touching the 0:15:42.120 --> 0:15:45.440 epithelial cells leading to chronic inflammation. So that damages that 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:48.280 little gate between the cells. It opens up, and now 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:50.800 you've got food pieces, You've got pieces of bacteria go 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:54.040 into your circulation, and that can lead to not good, 0:15:54.160 --> 0:15:55.920 not good, not good. That's the problem. 0:15:56.040 --> 0:16:00.480 And Nancy, I know that you have been found this 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:04.480 trend of more young people getting calling cancer, and I 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:07.400 think we'll focus on coorectal cancer for the purposes of 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:12.800 our discussion this morning, because you run oversee MD Anderson's 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:16.320 Young onset Coorectal cancer program. So every year in the 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:19.960 United States, everyone about eighty thousand adults between the ages 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:23.160 of twenty and thirty nine are diagnosed with cancer. People 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:27.640 under fifty is the only age group for which the 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:30.880 risk of getting cancer is actually rising. 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:33.520 So I know these cases. 0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:38.200 I know from personal experience and also from people who 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:41.160 have reached out to me as a result of what 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:45.400 happened to my husband, how heartbreaking these cases are. Can 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:48.160 you tell us a little bit, Nancy about the population 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:50.560 of patients you're seeing in your program? 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:54.320 Yes, so we're definitely, unfortunately seeing more and more young 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:57.240 people who are in the middle of building a career, 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:02.000 forming relationships, raising children whill get diagnosed with colorectal cancer. 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:07.080 What we see reflects national trends, but I think young 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:10.919 patients also seek us out, so they actually represent a 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.520 third of all of our new coloradal cancer cases a 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:18.320 year that we see. We see about six hundred a year. Sadly, 0:17:18.520 --> 0:17:21.200 most of these patients are already stage three or four 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:24.119 at diagnosis, so that means their tumors already spread to 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:28.000 the lymphnodes that surround the tumor or unfortunate other parts 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:31.399 of the body still totally treatable. But I think a 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:36.720 lot of them come to us. We also, what that 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:39.800 translates to is that their treatment typically needs a lot 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:44.919 of coordination, whether it's surgery plus minus, chemo plus minus 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:49.160 potential radiation and other treatments. So our program really tries 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:52.400 to coordinate that for the patient and make a whole 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:56.120 program for them. We also know that these young patients 0:17:56.119 --> 0:18:00.119 are starting their cancer journey with already super packed lives, 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:02.280 and so they have a lot of needs. We want 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:07.840 to treat the whole person, whether it's fertility concerns, finances, employment, paperwork, 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:11.159 and other things, or whether it's does they want to 0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:13.560 see another young person who's going through this or is 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:16.880 going through this? So our program tries to coordinate these 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:19.879 needs altogether and try to treat the whole person. 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:31.360 Want to support your gut health and microbiome. Try LifeWay 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:36.679 cafear packed with bioavailable protein and fifty billion CFUs of 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:41.320 probiotics to support your digestive system. Enjoy it straight from 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:44.280 the bottle, blended into smoothies, or use it in recipes. 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:48.240 It's delicious and versatile, and for a quick and healthy snack, 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:51.720 try lifeweight Farmer cheese. It's loaded with protein and the 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:56.840 perfect substitute for cottage cheese with no blending required. Spread 0:18:56.840 --> 0:18:59.679 it on a bagel, drizzle with olive oiler jam and 0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:04.399 in joy, love your guts, and visit lifewivefoods dot com 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:14.800 to elevate your snacking. Today, Nancy was telling me that, 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:17.719 you know, she was seeing two pregnant women who were 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:22.000 in their second trimester who had both been diagnosed with 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:25.160 metastatic colon cancer. And that means, you know, stage four, 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:29.359 it's metastasized your liver to other organs. Stage three, as 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:32.879 Nancy said, it's gone through your lymph nose, which are 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:35.720 kind of the gateway from your colon to the rest 0:19:35.760 --> 0:19:39.720 of your body. And so tiny microscopic disease can be 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:45.199 circulating throughout your body and later lead to metastasizing on 0:19:45.359 --> 0:19:48.600 other organs. So, and I think it's important to point 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:51.480 out that seventy five to eighty percent of colon cancer 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:54.320 cases or what are called sporadic where there is no 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:57.200 family history, and in these young people, of course, are 0:19:57.240 --> 0:20:00.320 things like Lynch syndrome and other familiar polyposes. Don't I 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:04.000 sound like a doctor that do make you more likely 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:06.359 to be, you know, to have a colon kids. But 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:09.160 many of these people have no family history and don't 0:20:09.200 --> 0:20:12.960 have any of those underlying conditions, right Nancy. 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:16.480 So up to twenty percent of the young patients can 0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:20.320 have a predisposition syndrome, and so what we say is, 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:24.040 if you're young and you have a diagnosis, always get 0:20:24.080 --> 0:20:27.639 your genetics tested so that if you fall into twenty percent, 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:28.640 we know what to do. 0:20:28.800 --> 0:20:30.399 We can totally take care of you. 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:35.680 The other eighty percent, though, don't have a known genetic predisposition, 0:20:36.359 --> 0:20:39.200 and so that's really the question, why are these patients 0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:40.000 getting diagnosed? 0:20:40.119 --> 0:20:41.360 And that's perfect that you. 0:20:41.359 --> 0:20:45.160 Don't have a family history doesn't mean that you're immune. 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:48.119 Right, right, And I think some people kind of convince 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:50.280 themselves so I don't need to get screened because it's 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:53.320 not in my family. But it wasn't in my husband's family. 0:20:53.440 --> 0:20:56.240 So that's why it's really so critically important to get 0:20:56.280 --> 0:20:59.000 screened at age forty five. And we'll talk about those 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:01.280 guidelines in a moment, but first I want to focus 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:06.880 on why this is happening, because it's so upsetting, and 0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:09.399 I know there are a lot of theories. 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:09.960 Nancy. 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:16.480 Microplastics, right, microplastics are kind of a new focus on 0:21:16.720 --> 0:21:20.920 a lot of science because we're ingesting so many tiny, 0:21:21.040 --> 0:21:26.040 tiny hot particles of plastic from things like plastic cutting boards. 0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:28.080 But they even think it might be getting into some 0:21:28.160 --> 0:21:30.320 of the crops that we're eating and. 0:21:30.280 --> 0:21:31.160 All kinds of things. 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:35.840 They're starting to find microplastics in fetuses and so they're 0:21:35.920 --> 0:21:38.439 kind of everywhere. Not to freak people out, but this 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:42.240 is something that they're studying because it might be permeating 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:45.119 that mucus barrier susan that you were talking about. So 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:49.280 microplastics is one theory ultra processed foods, which we talked about. 0:21:49.520 --> 0:21:54.440 The over prescription of antibiotics is something scientists are also 0:21:54.520 --> 0:21:57.800 looking at. Now, by the way, this is correlation, not causation. 0:21:58.000 --> 0:22:02.040 These are just theories. Epidemial logical studies take like decades 0:22:02.080 --> 0:22:04.960 because you have to follow people their whole lives. But 0:22:05.359 --> 0:22:09.080 also red meat alcohol consumption leading to obesity, which is 0:22:09.119 --> 0:22:13.160 also another risk factor. So Nancy, having said that, can 0:22:13.200 --> 0:22:16.760 you just talk us through some of these theories and 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:20.200 what scientists and doctors like yourself are looking at. 0:22:20.760 --> 0:22:22.320 I get the hardest question, right. 0:22:23.280 --> 0:22:25.200 I'm sorry, I'm sorry. 0:22:26.000 --> 0:22:29.960 So the why is definitely the question. We know the 0:22:30.000 --> 0:22:34.480 cancer is a complex disease, and so it's really hard 0:22:34.480 --> 0:22:37.399 to pain point one smoking gun, and often it's not 0:22:37.520 --> 0:22:40.199 one single thing. And so that's kind of where I 0:22:40.200 --> 0:22:42.560 think it is it's going to be several things that 0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:46.760 probably work together. There are non risk fractors to colorectal cancer, 0:22:46.880 --> 0:22:48.959 and there are things where you talked about a diet 0:22:48.960 --> 0:22:52.520 that's lowing fiber, high in red meat, high in processed foods, 0:22:53.359 --> 0:22:57.879 sedentary lifestyle, alcohol, smoking, Those are established risk ractors for 0:22:58.000 --> 0:23:01.800 colorectal cancer, and the young patient are certainly nodding you, right, 0:23:01.840 --> 0:23:06.639 So those risk factors that we also face, but likely 0:23:06.720 --> 0:23:09.040