Stomach cancer is one of the most common digestive tract tumors in China, and data show that in 2005, the incidence rate of stomach cancer in China reached 37.1 per 100,000 men and 17.4 per 100,000 women. There are 400,000 new gastric cancer patients and 300,000 deaths each year, and the number of deaths is the highest among all cancers. According to the statistics of World Health Organization, the incidence rate of stomach cancer in China ranks second in the world after Japan, and the number of patients accounts for 42% of the total number of stomach cancer patients worldwide. However, recent research data show that the incidence of gastric cancer has been showing a younger trend year by year, and the proportion of young people aged 19-35 among gastric cancer patients has increased from 1.7% in the 1970s to 3.3% at present, nearly doubling in more than 30 years. Because young people do not pay enough attention to gastric cancer, they are diagnosed late and found late; moreover, their gastric cancer cells are more poorly differentiated and more malignant, resulting in poor treatment effect of gastric cancer in young people, relatively worse prognosis and shorter survival time of patients. Why is the incidence rate of gastric cancer becoming younger? In fact, it has a lot to do with some bad living and working habits of young people. The most common point is that young people like to stay up late, and when they stay up late, they naturally develop the habit of eating late night snacks frequently, which is very harmful. Japanese scholar Professor Hideo Kurita found through long-term research that frequent late-night snacking is prone to stomach cancer. A survey on the diet of people in the age group of 30-40 years old found that 38.4% of stomach cancer patients had irregular dinner time. Why is frequent late-night snacking easy to cause stomach cancer? First of all, the life span of gastric mucosal epithelial cells is very short. They need to be renewed and regenerated once in about 2-3 days. This regeneration and repair process is usually carried out at night when the gastrointestinal tract is resting. If you often eat at night, the gastrointestinal tract does not get the necessary rest, and the repair of its mucosa is not possible to proceed smoothly. Secondly, when sleeping at night, the night snacks eaten are stagnant in the stomach for a long time, which can promote the secretion of gastric juice and cause stimulation to the gastric mucosa, which, over time, can easily lead to gastric mucosal erosion and ulcers and weakened resistance, and if the food contains carcinogenic substances, such as fried, barbecued, fried and waxed foods, which are often left in the stomach for a long time, it is more likely to cause adverse effects on the mucosa and lead to gastric cancer. In addition, smoking and drinking alcohol will also increase the risk of stomach cancer. The risk of stomach cancer increases by 50% to 60% among smokers. Globally, it is estimated that 11% of stomach cancers are closely related to smoking. When young people get together or in public interactions, it is not uncommon to pass cigarettes and drink alcohol. It can be said that smoking and drinking have become an important means of life and even work and socialization for modern young people, and as a result, stomach cancer, which is mostly found in middle-aged and elderly people, has started to frequently visit young people. Tobacco and tobacco smoke contain many carcinogens and carcinogenic substances, such as benzo(a)pyrene, dimethylnitrosamines, phenolic compounds, radioactive elements, and so on. Other serious harmful substances include nicotine, carbon monoxide, and tobacco tar. Recent studies have also found that tobacco smoke contains free radicals, which can destroy genes, damage cell membranes and reduce immunity, and promote tissue cancer, and smoking during meals can swallow the harmful substances in tobacco with food, and contact with the gastric mucosa, and because of the increase in the amount and duration of smoking, the long-term effect and cause stomach cancer. Although alcohol itself is not a carcinogenic substance, strong wine will stimulate the gastric mucosa, damage the mucosal tissue and promote the absorption of carcinogenic substances, and if you drink alcohol and smoke at the same time, it is even more harmful. Because alcohol can enhance the permeability of cell membranes, thus strengthening the absorption of carcinogenic substances in smoke. In addition, young people are busy with work, irregular life, often hungry and full, often do not eat breakfast and sometimes overeat; in order to catch up with the time, eat wolfishly; eat too much, which increases the burden on the stomach and intestines; addicted to hot pot and “hot and spicy”, etc., all these provide a “good” ground for the development of stomach cancer. All these provide a “good” ground for the development of stomach cancer. Therefore, experts remind that young people should not take stomach cancer lightly and should pay attention to and strengthen their normal stomach care work. As long as they maintain a good and healthy state of mind, pay attention to dietary hygiene, reasonable diet, proper exercise and scientific arrangement of their life, they can effectively prevent the occurrence of stomach cancer. The most important point in preventing stomach cancer is to develop good eating habits: diet should be regular and quantitative, avoid overeating, eating too fast and eating too hot food, so as not to stimulate or damage the gastric mucosa. In addition, smoking and alcohol abuse are strictly prohibited. In the three meals a day, build a fence against stomach cancer, eat more fresh vegetables and fruits, and eat more fresh vegetables and fruits containing vitamins A, B, E and beta carotene. Increase strong proteins and soy products appropriately to improve the nutritional situation and enhance the resistance of the body. A nutritionally balanced diet can improve the immune function of the human organism and protect the gastric mucosa. Avoid long-term consumption of salt-pickled food: eat less or no pickles, less smoked and fried food, no moldy food. In work and life, one should maintain an optimistic attitude. Many stomach cancer patients are introverted and not good at talking. According to the theory of Chinese medicine, long-term depression and depressed mood can lead to qi stagnation and blood stagnation and lumps, forming cancerous tumors. In addition to active prevention work, it is also necessary to pay attention to the traces of stomach cancer: such as symptoms like indigestion of unknown cause and more stubborn, mainly manifested as decreased appetite, abdominal fullness and discomfort after eating, acid reflux, belching, accompanied by weight loss or anemia. People who did not have stomach pain in the past have recurrent stomach pain in the recent past; or although they had stomach pain in the past, the intensity, nature and pattern of pain attacks have changed recently, and drugs that were effective in treatment have become poor or ineffective, etc. Once these conditions occur, special examinations, such as fiberoptic gastroscopy or upper gastrointestinal barium meal imaging, should be done in regular hospitals as early as possible, which is the most effective means for early detection of stomach cancer. People who have a family history of cancer genetics or suffer from gastric ulcer, polyps or atrophic gastritis have a significantly higher incidence of gastric cancer than the general population and belong to the group with a high incidence of gastric cancer, so they should pay more attention to it, and regular gastroscopy (6-12 months) is recommended. Prevention is always more important than cure, and for gastric cancer, the word ‘prevention’ should also take the lead. Only by paying attention to prevention can gastric cancer be detected at an early stage, so as to gain valuable time for surgical treatment and obtain the best treatment effect. Only by paying attention to stomach cancer and strengthening prevention can young people keep stomach cancer away from the door.