Recent Celebrity Deaths From Colorectal Cancer Raise Awareness

Prevalence, causes, and preventions of colorectal cancer

Japanese doctors advise that paying attention to your daily diet and exercise routines can effectively prevent colorectal cancer. Shutterstock

Hatsuyo Sugawara, a 59-year-old Japanese celebrity and the fastest eater in Japan passed away on March 9, 2023. Sugawara’s manager announced the news on Twitter on March 16, 2023.

In 2022, Sugawara revealed she was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer. Born in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, she later rose to fame after becoming the record holder in the annual All-Japan Wanko Soba Eating Championship.

Sugawara set an astonishing record of eating 399 bowls of soba noodles in 10 minutes on the Japanese TV show “Full Fire and Big Appetizer,” and was named the “First Witch” for this reason.

Story continues below advertisement

Colorectal cancer has also recently taken Brazilian “king of soccer” icon Pelé (Edson Arantes do Nascimento), who was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics, and an award-winning Taiwanese seasoned stunt choreographer, Zhu Kefeng.

What Is Colorectal Cancer?

Colorectal cancer is caused by abnormal colon or rectum cell growth. Abnormal cancerous cells grow, gradually spread, and transfer to other human body parts.

Symptoms of colorectal cancer include bloody stool or a large amount of mucus secretion, thin stool or constipation, an urge to defecate repeatedly, abdominal pain, and unexplainable weight loss.

Colorectal cancer has a high rate of occurrence in Japan, with more than 150,000 people diagnosed in 2019, while more than 50,000 people died of the disease in 2020, according to the National Cancer Center Tokyo.

In the United States, the American Association for Cancer Research estimated around 150,000 people in America were diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2022, and about 50,000 died of it. It is the third most common cancer in the United States.

Lifestyle Is the Leading Cause of Colorectal Cancer

On March 21, 2023, Dr. Junko Tokunaga, a medical professor at the Institute of Medical Sciences of the University of Tokyo, shared with The Epoch Times, “the genetic factor of colorectal cancer is less than 10 percent, while acquired factors are the main reason of colorectal cancer.”

Adenomatous polyps are one of the primary causes of colorectal cancer. Hence, if doctors can detect and remove adenoma pulp early, it will reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.

Story continues below advertisement

Tokunaga stated that daily unhealthy lifestyles cause colorectal cancer. He said eating a diet high in animal fat while lacking the appropriate amount of dietary fiber will increase the risk of colorectal cancer.

Obesity, exercise insufficiency, smoking, and drinking alcohol also may increase colorectal cancer incidence.

Colorectal Cancer Prevention

Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare emphasizes that the secret to preventing colorectal cancer is using “Two More, One Less,” meaning, engaging in more physical movement and eating fruits and vegetables, while eating less red meat.

• More physical activities: The risk of people with obesity having colorectal cancer is one to two times more than people at a healthy weight. In contrast, insufficient physical activity contributes to 21–25 percent of colorectal cancer. Hence, it is crucial to develop a regular exercise routine.
• More fruits and greens: The daily recommended intake is three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruits.

A serving size of vegetables is about “half a bowl” (equivalent to half a cup) of cooked rice, while one serving of fruit is approximately the size of a fist.

All vegetables contain multivitamins and nutrients such as vitamins A and C, iron, calcium, and phytochemicals. The dietary fiber in leafy greens regulates intestinal health and increases immunity against germs.

Adding more vegetables and fruits to the diet helps prevent colorectal cancer. Shutterstock

Story continues below advertisement

In 2021, researchers from Harvard University School of Public Health and other institutions published a joint study on the JAMA Network. Follow-up research of 26 years studied 210,000 participants. Those who consumed low-calorie beverages, red meat, and processed food, such as french fries, and insufficient amounts of fruits, whole grains, beans, leafy vegetables, and cruciferous and yellow vegetables were found to have a higher risk of colorectal cancer.

The characteristics of a processed diet increase the bacteria that produce hydrogen sulfide in the intestines—“a harmful by-product that may induce DNA damage, disrupt the mucus bilayer, and promote inflammation and CRC [colorectal cancer].”

Participants in the highest quintile of adherence to the sulfur microbial diet had a 27 percent higher risk of CRC compared to those in the lowest quintile, after adjusting for other risk factors (Hazard ratio 1.27, 95% CI 1.12-1.44, P<0.001).

• Less red meat: The International Agency for Research on Cancer, affiliated with the World Health Organization, states that people eating 50 grams of processed meat daily are 18 percent more likely to get colorectal cancer.

The more red meat in the diet, the greater the risk. However, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has not set a safe consumption standard.

Early Colorectal Cancer Detection Is Key

According to the National Health Department of the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Taiwan, early colorectal cancer is easier to cure, with a 5-year survival rate reaching 90 percent or above. However, the survival rate of stage 4 colorectal cancer drops to less than 20 percent.

Although there are no clear signs in the early stages of colorectal cancer, regular screening increases opportunities for early detection. Therefore, regular gut examinations are vital for early detection and treatment.