This cancer affects 600,000 people worldwide every year, and China accounts for nearly half of them! What did the Chinese do wrong?

This cancer has "Chinese characteristics"

Half of the world's cases occur in China

If there is any type of cancer that has "Chinese characteristics", I would immediately recommend it - "esophageal cancer"!

Why esophageal cancer? According to data released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, there were more than 600,000 new cases of esophageal cancer worldwide in 2020. Among them, 53.7% of new cases and 55.3% of deaths occurred in China.

New cases and deaths from esophageal cancer worldwide in 2020, as well as age-standardized incidence and mortality rates (per 100,000 person-years)

That is to say, nearly half of the world's esophageal cancer cases and deaths occur in China.

Why does this cancer "prefer" Chinese people?

No, this cancer "prefers" Chinese people's eating habits!

So here comes the question

What exactly are Chinese people eating wrong?

What exactly is wrong with what we eat?

Eating too hot

"Drink more hot water", "Eat while it's hot"...Are these greetings familiar to us? The Chinese people's obsession with "hot" food is ingrained in their bones. However, eating "too hot" food for a long time will greatly increase the risk of esophageal cancer!

This is because overheated food can burn the esophageal mucosa. The normal tolerance temperature of the esophageal mucosa is between 40℃ and 50℃. If it exceeds this value, it will cause damage to the esophageal mucosa. Especially when eating food above 65℃, when overly hot food passes through the esophagus and contacts the mucosal epithelium, it will burn the esophageal mucosal epithelium, causing damage, ulceration, bleeding and other lesions. You should know that the World Health Organization has listed hot drinks above 65℃ as Class 2A carcinogens. Long-term drinking or consumption of food and drinks above 65℃ will gradually cause inflammation, thereby inducing cell cancer.

Eating too fast

The pace of modern life is getting faster and faster, and many workers even have to squeeze out time for meals. With the mentality of "work as long as possible, sleep as long as possible", they can only squeeze their meal time, wolf down their food, and finish a meal in five minutes. However, if the food eaten in this way, especially hard food such as sesame cakes and pancakes, is not fully chewed, these rough foods are easy to "scratch" the esophageal mucosal epithelium when passing through the esophagus, causing acute inflammation. Over time, it is likely to turn into chronic inflammation, laying the groundwork for the onset of esophageal cancer.

Eating too spicy

Friends who love spicy food should pay attention: eating "too spicy" food may also cause esophageal cancer!

The editor has previously published a special issue to explain the relationship between chili peppers and cancer. If you have forgotten, please click in and review it!

Let's highlight the key points again: capsaicin in chili peppers is believed to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor potential. Therefore, eating a small amount of chili peppers may have a certain inhibitory effect on tumors. However, the problem is: we are talking about eating in small amounts! Regular and excessive consumption of hot and spicy food will definitely cause damage to the digestive tract! For the esophagus, high concentrations of capsaicin pass through the esophagus and can easily damage the esophageal epithelium, causing epithelial cell degeneration, causing inflammation of the esophageal mucosa, and thus inducing cell cancer. Friends in Sichuan and Chongqing, we still have to control our spicy addiction.

Image source: Pixabay

Long-term consumption of preserved foods and leftovers

Think about it, what do pickled food and leftovers have in common? Food that has been stored for a long time! Food that has been stored for a long time will produce a large amount of nitrosamine compounds and mycotoxins, especially nitrosamines, which are strong carcinogens. Long-term consumption will irritate the esophageal mucosa and cause cancer. Especially when the temperature is above 20℃, the nitrite content in the food will increase. The higher the nitrite content, the greater the carcinogenicity. In addition to "storage" food, barbecue, smoked food, fried food, etc. also contain a lot of nitrite. Therefore, people who like to eat pickles, bacon, salted fish, barbecue and other foods should pay attention to regular inspections.

Smoking and drinking

The most common pathological type of esophageal cancer in my country is esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and smoking and drinking are important causes of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. In particular, long-term drinking of strong liquor can cause significant damage to the esophageal mucosa, thereby greatly increasing the risk of cancer.

What warning signs should alert you to esophageal cancer?

The early symptoms of esophageal cancer are not obvious. Since esophageal cancer patients have stomach symptoms such as burning sensation in the throat, heartburn, belching, etc., many patients will treat them as stomach problems, not knowing that they have esophageal cancer.

So how can we detect the symptoms of esophageal cancer early in our daily lives? The following are the early warning signs of the body. If you have these symptoms, you should seek medical attention in time:

1. Dysphagia, and the patient feels discomfort or obstruction when swallowing food

2. Emaciation and weight loss

3. Pain or discomfort behind the sternum

4. Foreign body sensation, stuffiness, burning sensation

5. Mild pain in the esophagus or a feeling of food stagnation

6. Belching and acid reflux

7. Hoarseness

8. Unexplained anemia

Gastroscopy, a magic weapon to prevent esophageal cancer!

If you want to detect and prevent esophageal cancer in advance, you must not miss the gastroscopy! In the stage of esophageal intraepithelial neoplasia, the "predecessor" of esophageal cancer, if we can capture it in time through gastroscopy, then congratulations, at this time, you can achieve a radical cure by removing it in one go with the assistance of gastroscopy. If the disease has quietly developed into early or mid-stage esophageal cancer, then surgery will be your best solution. Unfortunately, if it is already advanced esophageal cancer, we have to rely on multiple means such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy to deal with it.

Of course, each person's situation is different, so consulting an experienced thoracic surgeon for a comprehensive evaluation is an essential step.

Image source: Pixabay

In addition to poor diet, there are also these...

According to the latest "Guidelines for Prevention and Screening of Common Malignant Tumors in Chongqing Residents (2024 Edition)" (click here to view the full version of the guidelines), in addition to the above-mentioned bad eating habits, the following items are also high-risk groups for esophageal cancer:

High-risk groups

1. Family history of malignant tumor

2. Aged 40 or above, males are more likely to be diagnosed than females

3. Suffering from esophageal diseases such as chronic esophagitis, Barrett's esophagus, esophageal polyps, long-term reflux esophagitis, etc.

4. Long-term residence in areas with a high incidence of esophageal cancer

5. Having the bad eating habits mentioned above

Preventive screening

1. Avoid consuming overheated food and drinks

2. Control chronic esophagitis

3. For high-risk groups, it is recommended to undergo esophageal cancer screening once a year, such as upper gastrointestinal tract barium meal X-ray examination, endoscopy, and high-resolution esophagitis ultrasound examination.

Source: Chongqing University Cancer Hospital

Review expert: Xu Wei, deputy director of the Thoracic Tumor Center of the Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Chongqing University

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