{"id":138,"date":"2026-05-03T12:49:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T12:49:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/humanitystories.pics\/?p=138"},"modified":"2026-05-03T12:49:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T12:49:59","slug":"rising-colorectal-cancer-in-young-adults-may-be-linked-to-common-weed-killer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humanitystories.pics\/?p=138","title":{"rendered":"Rising colorectal cancer in young adults may be linked to common weed killer"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
\n

A major health crisis may be rooted in an unlikely source.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s according to\u00a0new research out of Spain<\/a>, which suggests a widely used weed killer could be fueling the alarming rise in early-onset colorectal cancer worldwide.<\/p>\n

In the US, roughly\u00a0one in five diagnoses<\/a>\u00a0now occurs in Americans under 55 \u2014 and the disease has become a\u00a0leading cause of cancer-related death<\/a>\u00a0in young people.<\/p>\n

\n
\"A3<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
A popular herbicide was linked to higher rates of early-onset colorectal cancer in a new study.Wutthichai \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Past research has pointed to lifestyle and environmental factors like\u00a0smoking<\/a>,\u00a0diet<\/a>\u00a0and gut health as possible drivers of the trend, but tracking those exposures over a lifetime has proven difficult.<\/p>\n

The new study takes a different approach, looking instead for clues embedded deep in our biology.<\/p>\n

The researchers focused specifically on epigenetic marks, or chemical modifications added to DNA that alter gene expression without changing the underlying genetic sequence.<\/p>\n