Inside Health

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Factual: Health & Wellbeing

Series that demystifies health issues, bringing clarity to conflicting advice.

Series that demystifies health issues, separating fact from fiction and bringing clarity to conflicting health advice.

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Inside Health: Are more young people getting cancer?

Are more young people getting cancer?

BBC Radio 4 - Inside Health, Are more young people getting cancer?

Following the Princess of Wales’s diagnosis, we look at disease rates in people under 50.

Receiving a cancer diagnosis is still rare in people under 50, but trends over the past few decades suggest cases are rising. James Gallagher investigates why.

Last month, Catherine, Princess of Wales shared she’d been diagnosed with cancer. Describing this news as ‘a huge shock’ and at age just 42, the Princess’ disease falls into a category known as “early-onset cancer” – when the disease affects those under 50. While cases in this age group are still rare, diagnosis rates over the past few years have been growing. And scientists are now on a mission to figure out why. 

Receiving a cancer diagnosis at any age is devastating, but younger people living with the disease face additional challenges. James Gallagher talks to Emma Campbell, a mum of three young children who was diagnosed with bowel cancer at 36. Emma shares not just how her treatment affected her life, but the difficulties in advocating for herself as a younger person trying to get diagnosed. Professor Helen Coleman, cancer epidemiologist for Queens University Belfast, has been studying these diagnostic rates in younger people and explains possible reasons why more people like Emma are finding themselves living with the disease. 

A series of videos recently went viral on social media from women claiming their weight loss drugs got them pregnant. These drugs – like Ozempic and Wegovy – help people lose weight by suppressing appetite, but could they impact fertility? James speaks to Dr Charlotte Moffett, lecturer in Pharmacology and Molecular Pathology at the University of Ulster, who is studying if these drugs might alter someone's ability to conceive. James is also joined in the studio by GP, Dr Margaret McCartney, who helps him answer some of your questions. 

Presenter: James Gallagher 
Producer: Julia Ravey 
Content Editor: Holly Squire 
Production Coordinator: Elisabeth Tuohy 

TikTok credits: @Dkalsolive | @anastasiamalhotra | @coachkatierogers

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