Deaths were nine times higher than normal in parts of Europe during the darkest days of Covid, official figures show. 

Bergamo, a city in northern Italy, recorded 156.1 deaths per 100,000 people in the week to March 20 in 2020 — 800.5 per cent higher than the average for that time of year.

This means it logged Europe’s deadliest spell during the Covid crisis, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). 

For comparison, Birmingham, where deaths spiked most in the UK, saw a 239.5 per cent rise during mid-April.

Nationally, Italy, the first European nation to be engulfed by the virus, saw deaths skyrocket the most.

The ONS looked at relative age-standardised mortality rate across Europe for every week between December 28, 2019 and July 1, 2022.

The figures show the difference between the death rate logged for each of these weeks compared to the average logged between 2015 and 2019.

Nationally, statisticians found that the peak in death rates was logged by Italy in the week to March 27, 2020, when 74.1 per cent more people died than expected.

Italy was the first country in Europe to be swept by Covid. It spotted its first case in February 2020, in the northern region of Lombardy, and its first wave of deaths peaked in March.

The nation’s high death toll has been put down to its ageing population and overstretched healthcare system.  

Spain (138.5 per cent) and France (50.2 per cent) logged their peak one week later, with deaths concentrated around Madrid and Paris.

The UK saw the most deaths in the week ending April 17, 2020, when there was 38 deaths per 100,000 people — 97.9 per cent higher than expected.

Deaths in England (38.7 per 100,000, 107.6 per cent) and Wales (34.8 per 100,000, 68.7 per cent) spiked that same week.

The fatality rate in Scotland skyrocketed in the week to April 10 (37.4 per 100,000, 71.7 per cent), while deaths reached their highest point in Northern Ireland in the week ending April 24 (28.7 per 100,000, 48.2 per cent).

The ONS broke down rates by areas — called Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics — of which there are 179 in the UK and 1,166 in Europe.

After Bergamo, El Hierro, one of the Canary Islands, logged the highest spike in death rates in 2020 (621 per cent), followed by Segovia, northern Spain, (620.4 per cent) and Cremona, northern Italy (554.6 per cent).

In 2021, El Hierro (595.7 per cent), Lungau, south west Austria (389.1 per cent), and Mayotte, a French overseas territory (379.1 per cent) saw the biggest increases.

The largest spike in deaths in 2022 were reported in Lungau (376 per cent), Außerfern in Austria (228.9 per cent) and Eilean Siar in Scotland (184.1 per cent).

The ONS also examined which areas saw high excess deaths for the longest period.

Bucharest, in Romania, recorded a death rate at least 50 per cent higher than expected for a quarter of all weeks over the 30-month period. 

It was followed by Sofia, in Bulgaria (17 per cent), and Birmingham (9.4 per cent). 

In the UK, Birmingham logged the highest death rate compared to the pre-pandemic average, with a spike 239.5 per cent in the week to April 17, 2020.

London (220.8 per cent), Manchester (206.8 per cent) and Cardiff (146.6 per cent) logged their peaks in deaths that same week. 

Since the pandemic began, nearly 7million virus deaths have been reported to the World Health Organization. The UK has logged around 230,000 fatalities whose death certificate has mentioned Covid as one of the causes.

Marine scientists have weighed in on the identity of the bizarre golden object removed from the bottom of the ocean off the Alaskan coast. 

The shiny object is delicate to the touch, like skin tissue, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

It could be egg casing or the remains of a marine sponge, but DNA tests in the lab could reveal an entirely new animal completely unknown to science. 

NOAA experts compared it to something ‘from a horror movie’ in reference to a scene in ‘Alien‘ where John Hurt’s character discovers the ‘facehugger’ on another planet. 

Dr Tammy Horton at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton couldn’t say what the mystery object is but agreed it’s ‘potentially a new species’. 

‘It is not unusual to find unknowns in the deep sea – we have a lot to explore,’ she told MailOnline. 

‘They have a sample and will be able to study it more closely and will probably do some genetic analyses to determine at least what sort of animal it came from.’

Notably, the object was found with a gaping hole at the front, suggesting something was birthed from it. 

‘It could indeed be an egg case of some kind (explaining the “exit” hole),’ Dr Horton said. 

Dr Lucy Woodall, associate professor in marine conservation at the University of Exeter, agreed it looks like a sponge – an immobile aquatic invertebrate much like coral. 

‘The hole is probably just damage that has been suffered over time, but then again it could provide a whole new insight as to how life in the deep sea survives and thrives,’ she told MailOnline.

‘However the deep sea is full of wonders that we are only just discovering. 

‘I look forward to learning more about it from the taxonomists who will be working on the collected specimen.’

Kerry Howell, a professor of deep-sea ecology at the University of Plymouth, said that the object is ‘weird’ and is unlike anything she’s encountered. 

‘In my 20 years exploring the deep sea I have not seen anything like that,’ she told MailOnline. 

‘It’s always exciting to see new things and I will wait eagerly for the analysis on the sample to understand what it actually is. 

‘There are many many undiscovered species in the deep sea so this could be related to a new species quite easily.’ 

Professor Howell also said the hole could be where the creature inhales and exhales if it is a sponge, or where the animal hatched from if it is egg casing.

Dr Pierre Josso, a postdoctoral research scientist at British Geological Survey, said the object is ‘intriguing, but not truly surprising’.

‘We discover new biological structures or species during most dives as the seabed has been seldomly explored,’ he told MailOnline. 

‘New species – or relic of development stages of known and unknown species – have been catalogued at an increasing rate over the last decade as the deep ocean is being explored with more scrutiny than ever before.

‘As for its origin, function, and the reason for a hole in its structure, it is too early to tell.’ 

Whilst the ‘golden’ appearance is eye catching, this is mostly due to shine from the headlights from the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that removed it from its rock, Dr Josso added. 

A later photo of the object in the lab after it had been brought to shore shows it has a light brown-yellowy colour, which is ‘close to many other organic hues’, he said. 

Murray Roberts, a professor of marine biology at the University of Edinburgh, agreed with NOAA scientists that it could be an egg case.

‘Several species, including vulnerable deep-sea fish like sharks and rays, lay their egg cases on seamounts or in cold-water coral habitats,’ he told MailOnline.

‘Hence the hole – something hatched out and swam off.’ 

Meanwhile, a spokesperson at the Natural History Museum in London said: ‘Our experts have said that there are plenty of new species of deep-sea benthic sponge out in the deep sea.’ 

The ‘golden egg’ was found on day eight of NOAA’s Seascape Alaska 5 expedition, which runs from August 23 to September 16. 

Any fans who want to witness any similarly remarkable discoveries can follow the progress of the mission on a dedicated webpage on the NOAA website. 

Births in England and Wales fell to their lowest level in two decades in 2022, official figures show.

Around 600,000 live births were logged between the two nations last year — 3.1 per cent fewer than 2021.

The figure has been in freefall for a decade, apart from a blip during 2021 put down to a mini baby ‘bounce’ by couples who put their family plans on hold at the start of the Covid pandemic.

Experts believe the trend is partly down to women focusing on their education and careers and couples waiting to have children until later in life.

The UK’s fragile economy and cost-of-living crisis is also putting people off having children, some believe, evidenced by abortion rates simultaneously spiking. 

Experts claim people’s financial situations are increasingly playing into decisions around whether to start a family.

Others cite the environment, with people fearing that they will worsen their carbon footprint by having a child or that their child will have a bleak future due to climate change.  

Other reasons floated for plummeting birth rates include better access to contraception and lower child mortality.

There is no evidence that Covid vaccines are to blame, with scientists insisting there is no proof they harm fertility.

The ONS data shows that there were 605,479 live births between the two nations in 2022 — 577,046 in England and 28,296 in Wales.

This marked the lowest number since 2002 and was 20,000 fewer than 2021.

The drop is in line with pre-pandemic trends, which experts also fear will continue. 

Almost half of adults in the UK say they are not planning to have children, separate data revealed last year. Many cited financial reasons.

Experts fear the declining birth rate will leave Britain with an ageing population, pile extra pressure on the NHS and social care and hamper economic growth.

James Tucker, the ONS’ head of health analysis, said: ‘The annual number of births in England and Wales continues its recent decline, with 2022 recording the lowest number of live births seen for two decades.’ 

Fewer than half of new mothers (48.6 per cent) were married or in a civil partnership when they gave birth in 2022 — the lowest number on record.

Single mothers overtook those in couples for the first time ever last year. 

The rate peaked at 96 per cent in the early 1900s, before falling to 80 per cent in 1985, 70 per cent in 1991 and 60 per cent in 2001. 

It comes amid a trend of couples focusing on their careers and getting married and having children later in life.

Figures show that more older women than ever are becoming mothers. Some 31,228 over-40s gave birth in 2022 — up from 30,542 in 2021 and 17,336 in 2002.

But despite the number of older mothers soaring in recent decades, doctors tend to warn women not to leave it too late to have children. 

Fertility drops with age and the risk of complications, including stillbirths, increases.

Women in their late forties are estimated to have as little as a one in 20 chance of becoming pregnant naturally because they have fewer eggs, which are less capable of being fertilised.

Demand for donor eggs, one of the most common methods for older women to have a baby, have soared in recent years.

Other options include IVF — when a woman’s eggs are collected and mixed with sperm in a lab before being returned to the womb — and intrauterine insemination, when sperm is directly inserted into a woman’s womb.  

While births fell across the board among women in their twenties and thirties, teen births increased for the first time in nearly two decades.

Some 14,755 became mothers in 2022, up 7.4 per cent in a year.  

However, the figure is in line with pre-pandemic levels. A record low of 13,738 births among teens was logged in 2021, which experts think was down to Covid curbs stifling the young from hooking up. 

Meanwhile, there were 2,433 stillbirths in 2022 — when a baby is born after 24 weeks but did not breathe or show signs of life. 

The figure is down by 164 (6.3 per cent) from 2021. It means there was four stillbirths per 1,000 births — down from 4.1 in 2021 but higher than the 3.9 logged in 2019.

Rates were highest in the North East and West Midlands (4.3 per 1,000) and lowest in the South West (2.9 per 1,000). 

Advances in neonatal care, a decline in smoking rates among pregnant women — one of the leading causes of a stillbirth — and a greater focus on identifying at-risk babies has been credited for reducing the rate from 41.4 per 1,000 in the 1930s.

The Government in England has plans to halve the 2010 stillbirth rate by 2025, meaning the figure would need to drop to 2.6 per 1,000 births three years from now.

It comes as separate ONS figures published today show that three in 10 newborns in England and Wales in 2022 had non-UK-born mothers — nearly twice as many as two decades ago.

Among these 183,309 babies, mothers were most likely to be from India, while fathers were most commonly from Pakistan.

Irish musical royalty including members of U2 attended Sinead O’Connor’s funeral today before her coffin was cheered through the streets of Bray led by a VW campervan playing Bob Marley and her own hits.

More than 3,000 people gathered in her home town to mourn the star with many sobbing while singing ‘Nothing Compares to U’ in a moving final farewell following her sudden death in London last month aged 56.

The family of the singer, who died aged 56 last month, held a private memorial service this morning attended by the president of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Stars including Bono, the Edge and Bob Geldof were also there.

Sinead’s eulogy said she ‘suffered more than her share of hardship and adversity’. Imam Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri added: ‘Gifted with a voice that moved a generation of young people, she could reduce listeners to tears by her otherworldly resonance. Sinead’s voice carried with it an undertone of hope, of finding one’s way home. The Irish people have long found solace in song from the sufferings of this lower abode, and Sinead was no exception, and in sharing that solace, she brought joy to countless people the world over.’

The acclaimed singer’s family had asked people who wished to say a ‘last goodbye’ to stand along Bray seafront in Co Wicklow as the cortege passed by this lunchtime, to the sound of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Natural Mystic.

A Volkswagen camper led the hearse carrying her on her final journey with mourners throwing flowers on to the roof and bonnet. Blue hydrangeas and roses covered and surrounded the coffin. It then stopped outside her former home for several minutes so mourners could pay their respects. Many stepped into the road to touch the vehicle.

Another VW decorated with flowers and Pride flags was also outside Sinead’s former home. It was playing some of her songs from speakers mounted on the roof. Fans sang along to her song ‘Nothing Compares to U’ and some wiped away tears when the song ‘Scarlet Ribbons’, which has lyrics about ‘living to a hundred’, was played. The crowd of broke into applause as each song ended.

Sinead, a mother-of-four survived by her three living children, was found dead in her penthouse flat in Herne Hill on July 26 – the cause of death has not yet been revealed. She will be laid to rest today in her beloved Ireland with a traditional Muslim burial following her conversion in 2018.

Bob Marley’s ‘Natural Mystic’ was played from its speakers as the hearse stopped outside her former home. Her coffin was barely visible as it was covered in flowers, but around 5,000 people broke out into spontaneous applause as the reggae kings music played out.

It stopped only a few minutes in front of the home, which had a pink chair on its steps. Sinead would sit on the chair during Covid and talk to passers-by as associating with others and personal contact had been during the pandemic.

The VW was driven and organised by music producer friends of the late singer, and the vehicle is called ‘Jackie’ by its owners in honour of JFK’s first lady who visited Ireland in 1963, the year the vehicle was manufactured.

Her friend Liam O’Maonlai, the lead singer of the band, Hothouse Flowers, was among those who arrived at Sinead’s former home. He said of the huge crowds: ‘I think it’s love is why people are outside the house today. They loved her. I admired her.’ 

Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri, chief Imam at the Islamic Centre of Ireland, told MailOnline that Sinead was to have a Muslim burial on accordance with her conversion to the religion, referring to her with her adopted name Shuhada Sadaqat.

Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri later told the PA news agency: ‘The funeral was obviously private (for) the family and it was a very moving ceremony and I think it really reflected the beautiful personality of Sinead.

‘It was very spiritual and it reflected her Irish identity as well as her Muslim identity.

‘So I was with the members of the Muslim community and we performed the Janazah prayer, which is the Islamic funeral prayer, over Sinead.’

He also said that O’Connor ‘never moved away from God’ unlike others who have ‘difficulties and trials’ in their lives.

Dr Umar Al-Qadri said: ‘She was an amazing human being who was not just a great musician, artist, but one that would reach hearts of millions of people because of her voice but also because of the amazing content… She had always had strong faith and conviction in God.’

Irish president Michael Higgins said he would be attending the funeral service.

He said in a statement: ‘The outpouring of grief and appreciation of the life and work of Sinead O’Connor demonstrates the profound impact which she had on the Irish people.

‘The unique contribution of Sinead involved the experience of a great vulnerability combined with a superb, exceptional level of creativity that she chose to deliver through her voice, her music and her songs.

‘The expression of both, without making any attempt to reduce the one for the sake of the other, made her contribution unique – phenomenal in music terms, but of immense heroism.

‘However, achieving this came from the one heart and the one body and the one life, which extracted an incredible pain, perhaps one too much to bear.

‘That is why all those who are seeking to make a fist of their life, combining its different dimensions in their own way, can feel so free to express their grief at her loss.’

Sara Mohamed said she had travelled to Bray to pay her respects to Sinead O’Connor.

‘(I’m) a massive fan of Sinead and she’ll be missed. She was an Irish legend.

‘As an Irish Muslim, I felt that I should be here on behalf of my community to pay my respects to the Irish legend she was.

‘I just think she was massively outspoken and she spoke for minorities who didn’t have a voice. And that’s very admirable and very brave.’

Veronica Kelly travelled from Shannon at 2am and arrived in Bray at dawn to place flowers and said: ‘We will never see a woman in Ireland like Sinead again. Sinead gave a voice to the voiceless. She wasn’t afraid to speak out, and she stood up for black lives, gay rights and refugees.

‘This is a very sad day. She was an incredible woman. I had met and she just seemed like an ordinary person. But she was far from that. We will miss her greatly.’

Office worker Paula Cairns,51, said: ‘On top of all her wonderful achievements in standing up for the underdog, she was also a great musician.

‘We have lost a leading Irish light whose voice was known around the world.’

Daultach Magehsonnbhairr, 18, said: ‘Even though I’m a teenager, I know what Sinead meant to Ireland. We will all be enjoying her music for many years to come.’

 

Liam O’Maonlai sang with her at London’s Royal Festival Hall, shortly after she had been booed off stage at Madison Square Gardens for ripping up a picture of The Pope on American TV in 1992.

He said: ‘. She had not been put off by what happened in New York.

‘There are people who have a certain mastery in their art, as Sinead was one of those.

‘Whenever she walked into a room, she was the centre of it with the way she dressed, and the way she spoke.

‘She had incredible strength, and she showed that when she tried to sing her song, ‘I believe in you’ in Madison Square Garden and was booed.

‘Instead of walking off she turned to the song ‘War’ which was written by Haile Selassie and talks about peace.

‘It was an honour to perform with her. I just hope that she died with a smile on her face.’

Sinead fan Mary Clarke,52, from Galway said: ‘she spoke to me in so many ways about the difficulties of grown-up in Ireland.

‘This was all before social media. She just said amazing things I wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. How do you spoke for a lot of people of my age which is similar to her generation. She is going to be missed’

Her daughter Lucy,14, said: ‘I will always listen to music. I’ve been told a lot about how incredible she was by my mother.’

Babara O’Mera of the Moonmna womens’ group of Dublin said: ‘She inspired a lot of women like me. She was very brave and not afraid to be outspoken.’

The procession is expected to start at 10.30am at the Harbour Bar end of the Strand Road and will continue past by her former home, Montebello, where she lived for 15 years.

One note left there said: ‘You are forever in my heart.’

A pink chair was placed outside the pink-framed conservatory of the house, located on the seafront, with pink flowers and a photo of the singer placed at the base of the chair.

One sign left at the wall of the property listed causes that the singer had expressed support for, including welcoming refugees: ‘Where words fail, music speaks.’

A neighbour was also seen putting candles on the wall that separated the two properties.

Since her death on July 26, people have been leaving flowers and paying their respects at the house, which the singer sold in 2021 and which now lies empty.

‘Sinead loved living in Bray and the people in it,’ a statement issued by her family said.

‘With this procession, her family would like to acknowledge the outpouring of love for her from the people of Co Wicklow and beyond, since she left last week to go to another place.’

The Irish Grammy-winning singer was found unresponsive by police at her south-east London home, aged 56.

A host of tributes have flooded in from fans and famous artists across the world in response to her death, including Russell Crowe, Annie Lennox, Cyndi Lauper and Bob Geldof.

Several gatherings were held in the days since O’Connor’s death in Dublin, Belfast and London, where members of the public paid tribute to her legacy as a musician and activist.

O’Connor, who was born in Dublin in December 1966, released her first album The Lion And The Cobra in 1987.

Her second studio album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, followed in 1990, which contained the hit single Nothing Compares 2 U, which saw O’Connor top the charts in countries around the world.

The track earned her multiple Grammy Award nominations including for the prestigious record of the year category, as well as best female pop vocal performance and best music video.

In 1991, she was named artist of the year by Rolling Stone magazine and took home the Brit Award for international female solo artist.

She released a further eight studio albums, the latest being 2014’s I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss.

In 2018, O’Connor announced that she had converted to Islam and changed her name to Shuhada’ Sadaqat.

The cleric who presided over her conversion to Islam Umar Al-Qadri, the chief Imam of Ireland, yesterday posted a message on his Facebook page, describing her as a ‘beacon of truth and exemplar of Islam’s beautiful guideance.’

He said: ‘She has returned to her creator. Her conversion to Islam bore witness to the transcendent power of faith, reaching across cultural divides, tearing down walls of misunderstanding and prejudice.

‘Sister Shuhada’s journey underlined that embracing Islam is not merely a change of name or attire, but a quest for personal truth, acceptance of one’s imperfections, and submission to the Divine.

‘This path, filled with both petals and thorns, is one we must tread with empathy and humility.

Imam Al-Qadri, who said he had been Sinead’s ‘spiritual guide’, added: ‘May God envelope our sister Shuhada in his Loving Mercy, forgive her shortcomings and grant her a place in the highest of heavens.

‘May He comfort her loved ones in this difficult time, and guide us all to live lives reflecting the true essence of Islam.’

He appealed for Muslims to hold prayers at 11am tomorrow to coincide with her private burial.

‘We can express our respect, love, and solidarity for our departed sister, mirroring the values she tirelessly championed.’

On Sunday, a tribute to Sinead was unveiled on Bray Head in northern County Wicklow, Ireland, close to where she lived.

Just a short distance from Sinead’s home on Strand Road, a sign reading ‘ÉIRE SINÉAD,’ along with a white heart was placed close to the World War Two ‘ÉIRE’ landmark.

The letters of the moving sign are 30ft tall each and the tribute was the brainchild of bosses of The Tenth Man, in association with mural specialists, Mack Signs.

Executive creative director of Tenth Man, Richard Seabrooke said: ‘So much has been said about Sinéad since her recent passing, I’m not sure what is left to say.

‘We just wanted to take the opportunity to mark the moment with a bold statement that symbolises what she meant to this little country of ours.’

Following her death, her music management company 67 Management said she had been finishing a new album, reviewing tour dates for next year and was also considering ‘opportunities’ around a movie of her book.

O’Connor’s death is not being treated as suspicious by authorities.

A London coroner did not find a medical cause of death and suggested that the post-mortem examination results may take several weeks.

Huge crowd lines the street as Costa Rican footballer eaten by a crocodile is laid to rest

• Jesus Alberto Lopez Ortiz was devoured by a crocodile as he cooled off in water
• The father-of-two was taking a dip in a Costa Rican river when he was attacked

By James Callery and Perkin Amalaraj

Updated: 08:24 EDT, 8 August 2023

Colon cancer deaths among young people are expected to have doubled in two decades by 2030, experts warn. 

The cancer – which is especially hard to treat due to late diagnosis and broad symptoms – is also expected to become the number one cause of cancer deaths in people under 50 by the end of the decade. 

Doctors are still trying to work out what’s behind the unprecedented rise, but theories include modern diets, antibiotic use, and even fungus. 

Dr Christopher Lieu, co-director of gastrointestinal medical oncology at University of Colorado Medicine, said: ‘Colorectal cancer will be the number one cause of cancer-related deaths in [patients] 20 to 49.’

Speaking at a cancer conference in Chicago on Saturday, he added: ‘This is a humongous issue.’

Cancers of the colon and rectum are currently the third most common type in the US and the third leading cause of death of both men and women.

Dr Lieu said that in young people, both diagnoses and death rates are climbing, even though rates in older populations are declining. 

The American Cancer Society estimates about 153,000 colorectal cancer cases will be detected this year, including 19,500 among those under 50 years old.

Some 52,550 people are expected to die from the disease.

In a March report from the ACS, scientists warned that the rate of colon cancer in people aged 50 to 54 nationwide was now nearly 60 per 100,000.

For comparison, between 1975 to 1979 the rate was around 40 per 100,000 – indicating a 50 percent increase in around 45 years.

About 43 percent of diagnoses were in people aged 45 to 49 years old.

The US is not the only country seeing these alarming rates. A 2023 review found that while the US had an early-onset colorectal cancer rate of 12.4 per 100,000 people, Australia had 13.5, Norway had 10.5, Korea had 10.1, and the United Kingdom had 9.3.

‘We don’t know why this trend is being seen in numerous countries that have different diets and exposures and environmental factors,’ Dr Lieu said.

Dr Lieu said that based on data from JAMA Surgery, between 2010 and 2030, colon cancer will have increased by 90 percent in people ages 20 to 34. In the same age group, rectal cancer will have spiked by 124 percent.

Experts have commonly blamed unhealthy diets, alcohol consumption, and sedentary lifestyles on this shift, though some research suggests otherwise. 

A 2021 study, for example, found that early-onset cancer patients were less likely to be obese or be smokers than their older counterparts. 

Dr Lieu pointed to health impacts and exposures that young-onset colorectal cancer patients have had as early as birth. 

A study published in April examined how being born via c-section influenced the chance of developing early-onset colorectal cancer. The researchers found that females born via c-section were more likely to develop colorectal cancer earlier in life than those born vaginally. There was no association among males.

Additionally, antibiotic use has been shown to impact this risk. One study in journal Gut found that prolonged antibiotic use resulted in increased risk of early-onset colon cancer. However, it was also associated with a lower risk of rectal cancer. 

And research presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting this weekend showed that the fungus Cladosporium sp. was more common in the tumors of young patients than the older individuals.

It’s still unclear how Cladosporium sp. could lead to this increase in cases, but the researchers think it could damage cell DNA. This could make them turn into cancerous cells. 

These environmental factors have a lasting impact on the gut microbiome, which experts think could increase the risk of colorectal cancer, even when exposure was limited to early life.  

‘People are carrying this increased risk with them as they age,’ Dr Lieu said.

Part of what makes colorectal cancer difficult to diagnose is its symptoms, which can often be attributed to other conditions. However, some stand out more than others.  

A study published last month in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that the most reported symptoms were abdominal pain, blood in the stool, diarrhea, and iron-deficiency anemia. 

Additionally, in a 2020 survey by Colorectal Cancer Alliance, 68 percent of participants said they experienced blood in their stool. The average participant age was 42. 

‘This is a concerning finding and something that should never be taken lightly, especially by primary care providers,’ Dr Lieu said.

The same survey also found that many patients with colorectal cancer symptoms were initially misdiagnosed or dismissed. 

More than half of respondents said they were misdiagnosed with conditions such as hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome, anemia, and mental health issues. And patients ages 19 to 39 were more likely to feel dismissed by their provider.

In one study, with just one symptom took an average of 10 months to receive a colorectal cancer diagnosis. Those with at least three symptoms were diagnosed after five months on average. 

‘Five months is still way too long to be diagnosed with obviously a very deadly disease,’ Dr Lieu said. 

Spending longer amounts of time without a diagnosis could allow colorectal cancer to advance to later stages, making it more difficult to treat. 

‘Some of our stage IV patients were waiting more than a year to be diagnosed from the onset of their symptoms,’ Dr Lieu said. ‘We should not be surprised when they show up with later stages of disease.’ 

Amid concerns over the rising rate among younger adults, in 2021 the US Preventive Services Taskforce lowered the screening age from 50 to 45 years old.

This is usually a colonoscopy, where a camera is inserted into a person’s rectum, searching for growths or changes to their intestines. 

However, patients younger than 45 are less likely to get screened since they don’t fall within the recommended age range. 

A 2017 study in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology found that people under 50 tended to wait two months longer to seek medical attention after first noticing symptoms than those over 50. 

In a 2019 study, 63 percent of colorectal cancer patients didn’t even know that this type of cancer could occur in people under the age of 50. 

Dr Lieu said in a call to action that educating physicians and patients on what signs to look out for and expanding risk assessments and genetic testing could help researchers better understand what is causing this increase. 

‘Awareness is key,’ he said. 

 THE WORLD’S TOP 20 BEST NUDE-FRIENDLY BEACHES

1. Haulover Beach Park, Florida, USA – 97/100 *Index score

2. Praia de Tambaba, Brazil – 76/100

3. Red Beach, Santorini, Greece – 70/100

4. Patara Beach, Turkey – 69/100

5. Playa de los Muertos, Spain – 67/100

6. Playa Zipolite, Mexico – 66/100)

7. Es Trenc, Mallorca, Spain – 64/100

8. Praia do Abricó, Brazil – 63/100

9. Banana Beach, Greece – 54.9/100

10. Paradise Beach, Mykonos, Greece – 54.7/100

11 = Piscinas Beach, Sardinia, Italy – 54/100

11 = Playa de Maspalomas, Gran Canaria, Spain – 54/100

12 = Vecaki Beach, Riga, Latvia – 53/100

12 = Porto Ferro Beach, Sardinia, Italy – 53/100

13 = Wannsee, Berlin, Germany – 52/100

13 = Baker Beach, San Francisco, USA – 52/100

13 = Playa de Ses Illetes, Formentera, Spain – 52/100

14 = Hanlan’s Point Beach, Toronto, Canada – 51/100

14 = Rowy Beach, Rowy, Poland – 51/100