Welcome to Wellness on Mass. I'm Dr. Nicole Sapphire, and this is your weekly rundown, where I pick what I think are the biggest headlines with all things health and wellness. One of the biggest things that I saw this week is the fact that a new study from University of Colorado has identified a surprising and troubling trend. Rates of appendiceal cancer, a rare malignancy of the appendix

are increasing, and they're increasing, especially among Gen Xers. But Gen Xers aren't alone.

Those, you know, those that are born between 1965 and 1980. In fact, we are seeing rates of

appendiceal cancer and even younger generations. That's right. I know someone

personally in their 30s who is diagnosed with appendiceal cancer. Now while this is still rare,

incidents in these age groups have climbed significantly over the past two decades, especially

in women. Now scientists aren't exactly sure why, but possibilities

include shifts in the gut microbiome, dietary habits, chemical exposures, and people love to say

from detection for more frequent imaging and colonoscopies, I'm going to say no, no on that.

Absolutely not. We are not screening for appendiceal cancers. The rise in these

cancers, the incidents and the prevalence, it's real. And it's all about what we're eating and how

we're living our life. So what can you do? Well, you can maintain a high fiber diet,

avoid ultra-processed foods, and reduce chronic inflammation through exercise and healthy weight

management.

That's how you're going to decrease your risk of these rare cancers.

As for symptoms, here's what to watch for.

Persistent abdominal pain, cute right lower quadrant pain, especially if you're over 30,

you shouldn't be getting appendicitis at this age.

Bottom line, if your body feels like something's changing, something's unusual or persistent, don't write it off. Early detection can be the

difference between a curable disease and a misdiagnosis. Now I want to hop over to another topic,

which kind of ties into this, the fact that synthetic food dyes are on their way out. In consumer health

news, major food companies, including Mars and General Mills, are all finally starting to phase

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