Nearly 300 times a year! 29-year-old boy diagnosed with cancer! His mother burst into tears: He just won't listen...

“I eat this almost every day.

It would be strange if you weren’t sick!

I just didn’t expect…”

Xiao He (pseudonym), 29 years old, from Hangzhou

Diagnosed with gastric cancer,

Before surgery,

My mother rushed to Hangzhou from another place to accompany me.

Talking about my son's diet and daily routine,

I couldn't help crying.

A young man who ordered takeout nearly 300 times a year was diagnosed with gastric antral adenocarcinoma

Xiao He is a workaholic recognized by his colleagues. A month ago, he always felt pain in his upper abdomen, dizziness, weakness in his limbs, and found that his stool was always dark. Although the doctor who treated him repeatedly recommended a gastroscopy, he always thought it was troublesome and never did it.

Two weeks ago, Xiao He went to the hospital for a gastroscopy at the repeated urging of his mother. The result was like a bolt from the blue - gastric antral adenocarcinoma!

Xiao He underwent surgical evaluation at the Department of Gastroenterology and Pancreatic Surgery of Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital. Fortunately, only the lymph nodes around the lesion were swollen, and there were no obvious distant metastases.

Next, Wang Yuanyu, director of the gastrointestinal and pancreatic surgery department of the hospital, and Lu Chao, the attending physician, performed a laparoscopic radical gastrectomy for him,**removing more than half of his stomach. **After the operation, Xiao He recovered well, but he still needs to receive follow-up adjuvant chemotherapy.

How could he get stomach cancer at such a young age? It turned out that Xiao He worked too hard, had a disordered diet and work schedule, and had never cooked for himself in the five or six years he had worked. He always ordered takeout for meals , even for his midnight snacks.

"He orders takeout nearly 300 times a year, and has one or two midnight snacks a week, which adds up to nearly 400 times. Every time we go to his rental house, we see takeout boxes discarded everywhere. We try to persuade him, but he doesn't listen!" Xiao He's mother said, tears streaming down her face.

Young patients with gastric cancer have common characteristics

The incidence of gastric cancer has increased significantly among people under 35 years old

Bad habits, work pressure, and genetic family history are considered to be high-risk factors for gastric cancer.

Wang Yuanyu said that although the main age of gastric cancer is 40 to 60 years old, the incidence of gastric cancer in people under 35 years old in China has increased significantly compared with the past. Most young gastric cancer patients have the following common characteristics:

First, irregular life. Young people generally have a fast pace of life and work, high work pressure, very irregular life, and staying up late has become the norm.

Second, unhealthy diet. Young people are greedy for convenience, order takeout or often eat barbecue as a midnight snack. Spicy barbecue and other heavy-tasting foods can strongly irritate or even damage the gastric mucosa. Many people also eat one meal and skip the next, with a disordered diet.

Third, the mentality of taking chances. More than 70% of early gastric cancers have no symptoms , and young people have good physiques and strong tolerance, so the symptoms are even less obvious. Many young people often take chances with their health and are unwilling to go to the hospital for treatment or do not take examinations despite advice.

He reminded that young people should try to change their eating habits of eating takeout or barbecue as midnight snacks for many years, and stay away from tobacco and alcohol; if they experience abdominal distension, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, black stools, weight loss, etc., they should go to a specialist for consultation and examination in time.

These people should also be alert to gastric cancer

These people are at high risk of stomach cancer:

According to the "Guidelines for Screening, Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Gastric Cancer in China (2022, Beijing)", people aged 45 years and above who meet any of the following conditions are considered to be at high risk of gastric cancer:

(1) Long-term residence in areas with a high incidence of gastric cancer;

(2) Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection;

(3) Patients with a history of precancerous diseases such as chronic atrophic gastritis, gastric ulcer, gastric polyps, residual stomach after surgery, hypertrophic gastritis, pernicious anemia, etc.;

(4) A first-degree relative has a history of gastric cancer;

(5) The presence of other high-risk factors for gastric cancer (high salt, pickled food, smoking, heavy drinking, etc.).

To prevent gastric cancer, do a few things

●Timely and standardized treatment of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection.

●Avoid long-term high-salt diet, smoked and fried foods, intake of red meat and processed meat, and bad eating habits; quit smoking and limit alcohol consumption; consume sufficient amounts of fresh vegetables and fruits, etc.

●People at high risk of gastric cancer are recommended to have a gastroscopy once a year. Given the increasing trend of young gastric cancer patients, people at high risk can undergo their first gastroscopy screening at the age of 40.

●Once early gastric cancer is discovered, the patient needs to be hospitalized promptly and a multidisciplinary discussion on the tumor should be conducted to decide whether to undergo endoscopic resection or minimally invasive surgery.