Welcome to Paging Dr. Gupta. This is the show where I get to answer your health questions. I really appreciate you sending so many in. My producer Andrea is with us today. Who do we have up first? Hi, Sanjay. You might have heard the sad news that the actor James Van Der Beek, who was best known for his role in Dawson's Creek, died last week after a battle with colorectal cancer. He was only 48. The news has a lot of people wondering what they should know about colorectal cancer, and especially the early warning signs. What can you tell us? All right, thank you so much for this question. I'm really glad you asked. I think the number of colorectal cancer cases among young people in this country is growing. That's been happening for some time, more than 20 years now. It has now surpassed other cancer types to become the leading cause of cancer death among people under the age of 50 in the United States. That's as of 2023. So let's get to your questions around screening and detection and the warning signs right after the break. Today's topic, colorectal cancer. Let me start off by giving some context and some numbers. About 10% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed in people under the age of 50. Okay? It's the leading cause of cancer death for people under the age of 50. And even people in their 20s and 30s are being diagnosed. I mean, it was shocking to see that a young person, perfectly fit and healthy, no risk factors, no family history, could be diagnosed with stage 4 disease. That's Dr. Kimi Eng. She's a gastrointestinal oncologist at Dana-Farber, and she started one of the first centers in the country specifically for young adults with colorectal cancer. I had a long conversation with her about this on a past episode of Chasing Life. So let me tell you some of the headlines I took away from it. There are 60 new colorectal cancers diagnosed in people under the age of 50 every day in the United States. That's a diagnosis about every 25 minutes. That's in part why it is now recommended for people at average risk of colorectal cancer to start regular screening at age 45. Now, colonoscopy is the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening. It is invasive, and it does require taking a PrEP. It means drinking a bunch of fluid to basically clean out your colon. And that's why many people want to avoid it, understandably. But it is the gold standard because it does two very important things. Number one, it can detect cancer at an early stage. Number two, during the procedure, the doctor can also remove any polyps before they become cancer. And that's a really important point. Because look, there are other screening tests available, like CT colonography or stool-based tests that you can actually do at home, and they are good. Almost just as good for early detection, but not as good at prevention compared to a colonoscopy. You can't take a polyp out if you're just doing a CT scan. Now, while screening is important, that's only part of the story. Dr Eng says it also incredibly important to know the symptoms and to take those seriously as well I think knowing the red flag symptoms that may be associated with colorectal cancer is really important. And for young people, most of these cancers arise in the left side of the colon or the rectum. And so the most predominant presenting symptom is seeing blood in the stool. For example, if you see blood that's actually mixed into the stool rather than sitting on top of it or in the toilet bowl or just on the toilet paper. If it's mixed in the stool, that's perhaps a little bit more concerning, a little bit more characteristic of a malignant cause. Other common presenting symptoms include a change in your bowel habits. So new diarrhea, new constipation that's different from your baseline, a thinner caliber of your stools, abdominal pain. There could be fatigue or shortness of breath with exertion that could indicate anemia or low red blood counts, And then unintentional weight loss is another red flag symptom that may indicate a diagnosis of colorectal cancer. So let me just reiterate. Common symptoms of colorectal cancer. Blood in the stool or rectal bleeding. That's an obvious one. But also unexplained changes in bowel habits that last more than a few days. Diarrhea, constipation, significant narrowing of the stool. Persistent abdominal pain or cramping. Weakness or fatigue. Unintended weight loss. Lingering sensation of fullness. That means you feel like you need to have a bowel movement even after going. Now, again, I want to acknowledge that a lot of people put off getting checked when something feels off. They are busy. They are worried. They usually just figure the symptoms will sort themselves out. I get it. It's hard. It's scary. And James Van Der Beek actually talked about this. He said that at first he thought his symptoms were just from drinking too much coffee or from putting cream in his coffee, so he changed his diet and waited to see if it would help. But when things still didn't get better and he finally got evaluated, that's when he learned he had stage 3 colorectal cancer. That's why it's important to go to the doctor if things feel off. If you delay, that means that many young adults aren't going to be diagnosed until the cancer is already advanced. So what does that mean, advanced? Late-stage cancers, stage 3 or 4. That means they have spread beyond the original tumor into nearby lymph nodes and even distant organs. And when the cancer spreads, no surprise, treatment becomes harder, survival rates drop, no matter the patient's age. Part of the reason this is so problematic in people under the age of 50 is that more than 60% of those patients are diagnosed after the disease has already advanced to stage 3 or 4. I think part of the problem that's stifling conversation about this disease is that nobody is comfortable talking about their stool or seeing blood in their stool such that they don't maybe even mention this to their primary care doctors or their family members. But it's so important that we try to normalize these conversations and ask physicians to routinely and systematically ask, are you having blood in the stool? Are you having a change in your bowel habits so that these symptoms can come to light? Again, I know even just talking about this can feel embarrassing. It can feel uncomfortable, but it's health. And we're all human. And it's important to not only acknowledge when something's not feeling right, but to also seek help This is an important one really important Could save a life Thanks for all your questions on this And if you want to learn more about colorectal cancer and what behind the rise listen to our episode called, Why Are So Many Young People Getting Cancer? We're going to go ahead and link it in our show notes. Okay, we'll take a quick break here, but when we come back, we're going to turn the spotlight on a new trend that maybe you've heard of. Vibration plates. I'm CNN tech reporter Claire Duffy. This week on the podcast, Terms of Service. All across the country, from Portland to Minneapolis, protests have risen against President Trump's massive immigration crackdown. Many people have shared videos showing ICE agents appearing to photograph or videotape people with their cell phone cameras. What does it mean for people whose status ICE may be trying to assess? And even for those who may come into contact with ICE while protesting or observing their operations. The app is called Mobile Fortify. It was developed by the Department of Homeland Security. If you are an ICE agent, you can walk up to someone, take a photo of their face, and it will pull from internal federal databases to be able to determine your immigration status and your immigration history. Listen to CNN's Terms of Service wherever you get your podcasts. I hear it's time for another question. Andrea, who do we have next? Our next caller is interested in learning more about what may be a new exercise fad. Hi, Dr. Gupta. My name is Maria. I'm calling from Indiana, and I've been hearing and seeing a lot about vibration plates. And I was just wondering if it's a fad or if it actually does have health benefits. So any information that you could put on your podcast about vibration plates would be appreciated. Thanks. Okay, Maria from Indiana. Vibration plates. First, a quick explainer for the uninitiated. What are they? Well, as the name would imply, it's a small platform or a plate that vibrates or oscillates about 25 to 50 times a second. And that can create vibrations throughout your whole body. And the idea is pretty simple. Rapid vibrations stimulate the muscles throughout your body, causing them to contract and release multiple times per second. You can stand while doing this, sit, or even lie on the machine. Some people perform exercises with these vibration plates, like squats or balancing poses. Now, proponents say this can be helpful. to lose weight, to burn fat, to improve flexibility, enhance blood flow, help bone density, reduce muscle soreness, and reduce stress. But as you might guess, and as we've talked about on the podcast before, it's challenging to prove these things. Long-term comprehensive research is lacking. What we did find is a couple studies, 2019 meta-analysis, looked at whole body vibration for between 6 to 24 weeks and found a small but statistically significant effect on total fat mass per kilogram. There were two meta-analyses that found that vibration therapy showed positive outcomes on bone density in post-menopausal women and older folks and could be useful as an add-on therapy. But both these studies concluded that more studies were needed, and again as an add therapy probably not as a sole or solitary therapy You know this is far more prevalent than I realized these vibration plates so I decided to reach out to someone who been on the podcast before physical therapist Dr Kelly Starrett. This is what he had to say. Vibration plates can be useful, but only usually in a narrow lane. Vibration is a powerful sensory input. It can help wake up the body, improve body awareness, even provide some circulation boost. Our tissues actually are really good at responding to vibration, pressure, and load through this concept called mechanotransduction. So it's not surprising vibration can actually feel good. That said, the evidence doesn't really support vibration plates as a shortcut to meaningful gains of bone density, muscle mass, coordination, or cardiorespiratory fitness. You usually find one tucked in the most high-performance centers in professional sports. often used as a supplemental tool for warm-ups or some mobility, but not as a real replacement for training. In other words, these vibration plates are not going to be your best use of time or money if you're hoping to replace real exercise. That said, some people may choose to try a vibration plate out. And if you do, consider the dose, meaning consider the time, frequency, and amplitude. It's not all the same. Time is the amount of time you obviously are going to spend on the platform. Frequency is the number of vibrations per second, and amplitude is how intense those vibrations are, the vertical displacement of those vibrations, if you will. Keeping those variables in mind, start low, at a low intensity and low frequency, and go short. Stick with just 5-10 minute sessions at first. Gradually increase the intensity, frequency, and length of your sessions. if you ever experience some side effects and people do disorientation or nausea or pain stop and definitely check with the doctor before using a vibration plate if you've had a heart related condition if you have severe osteoporosis for example if you have epilepsy or another type of seizure disorder if you have a history of migraine headaches or if you've had recent injuries these are new the data is still being collected but maria i hope that helped That's all the time we have for today. Thanks to everyone who contributed questions. You bring this show to life. So keep them coming. If there's something health-related you've been wondering about, send it to us and maybe we'll answer it next week. Record a voice memo. Email it to pagingdrgupta at cnn.com. That's pagingdrgupta at cnn.com. Or give us a call, 470-396-0832, and leave a message. Thanks for listening. To me, it's the 1980s ran for president and won. Right. Why isn't the music more interesting? YMCA. Mm-hmm. Gloria. Mm-hmm. I'm going to say that Gloria blew my mind. Michael Crawford receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That means it. Have I Got News for Your Ears releases new episodes every Wednesday. Don't miss an episode. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts.
