[콕!건강]Gastric cancer is twice as common in men... "Quit smoking and eat fresh"

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For Koreans who like spicy and salty food and drink alcohol frequently, gastric cancer is a type of cancer that you need to be careful about. There are no special symptoms in the early stages, and it is often mistaken for a mild disease such as indigestion, and then misses the timing of treatment. In particular, men need to pay special attention to the fact that the incidence of male patients is twice as high as that of females.

According to cancer registration statistics in 2020, the number of gastric cancer patients was 17,869 males and 8793 females. Regarding the reason for the large number of men, Choi Seong-il, a professor of surgery at Gangdong Kyunghee University Hospital, said, “There can be various causes, such as drinking and smoking more than women, as well as Helicobacter pylori infection.” It is speculated that frequent intake may also have an effect.”

You can’t be safe just because you’re young. Gastric cancer that occurs at a young age has relatively many diffuse gastric cancers that metastasize quickly, so it spreads quickly and is difficult to treat. Due to the nature of spreading to the surroundings through the submucosal or muscle layer, it is often invisible with gastroscopy, and it is easy to metastasize to various organs such as the surrounding lymph glands. According to the 2021 cause of death statistics from the National Statistical Office, deaths from stomach cancer and breast cancer were the highest among cancer deaths in the 30s.

Choi Seong-il, a professor of surgery at Kyunghee University Gangdong Hospital, performs gastric cancer surgery.[사진제공=강동경희대병원]

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Early gastric cancer is usually asymptomatic and is often discovered incidentally during a health checkup. In the case of early gastric cancer accompanied by an ulcer, there may be heartburn, but most of the digestive symptoms felt by patients are often non-ulcer dyspepsia. If stomach cancer causes weight loss, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, difficulty swallowing, or gastrointestinal bleeding, it is possible that the cancer has already progressed to an inoperable level. Therefore, it is important to find and treat it quickly through regular checkups.

The gastric cancer screening recommendation recommends that people over the age of 40 receive a screening every two years, even if they do not have any symptoms. In particular, if there is a gastric cancer patient in the family or if there are symptoms such as epigastric pain, indigestion, or weight loss, it is good to get a gastroscopy. If gastric cancer is detected early through regular checkups, more than 90% of cases can be cured.

Gastric cancer does not occur for a specific cause, but poor eating habits are considered one of the major causes of gastric cancer. Professor Choi said, “In order to prevent stomach cancer, you must correct your eating habits. It is better not to eat salty foods and avoid smoked foods high in nitrates and nitrites.” appeared to be higher,” he said. You should also pay attention to the intake of fresh vegetables and fruits rich in vitamins. Smoking cessation is also important. It is already known through many studies that the risk of gastric cancer is 2 to 3 times higher in smokers than in non-smokers.

Reporter Gwanju Lee [email protected]