[LadyDoc]

cancer of the large intestine and rectum is higher in countries where low fiber diets are eaten. So we see it here in SEAsia and in western Africa where they eat a lot of white rice that lacks fiber, but not in east/central/south Africa where they eat high fiber maize in porridge form as the staple food.

When I started medical school 50 years ago, rectal cancer was common, so we did sigmoidoscopies to screen, but now the cancer has changed and is more common upstream, which needs a colonoscopy to diagnose.

the theory is that the transit of feces is faster in a high fiber diet, so the toxins don't infect the tissue as much. And with the increase in fiber in American diets, this might explain the evolution of the cancer.

However, I suspect some rectal cancers might be from the same pappilloma virus that causes cervical (but not uterine) cancer.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23895733/

[MomwithHope]

Thanks for the good info!