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In today's episode we're investigating the mysterious rise of cancer among young adults in the Corn Belt.
Data shows that the six leading corn-producing states (including Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois) have significantly higher cancer rates for those aged 15 to 49 compared to the rest of the country.
We explore why this generational reckoning is happening and examine potential complex causes, including high nitrate pollution, radon levels, and the heavy use of agrochemicals like glyphosate (Roundup).
This crisis is compounded by a healthcare system often failing to diagnose young patients early, like Beatrice Abang-Ntuen.
We also share the story of Mackenzie Dryden and a cluster of diagnoses in her Iowa hometown.
Video Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/10/27/young-cancer-iowa/
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0:00
Yeah,
0:01
welcome to another video of Foodnner
0:03
Nourish Deep Dives, the video cast of
0:05
foodnnerish.net, where we explore topics
0:07
like health, food, supplements, and
0:10
alternative approaches to health and
0:12
wellness. Today, we're diving into a
0:14
really disturbing trend that's happening
0:16
right in America's heartland. It's a
0:18
mystery that starts in the cornfields of
0:20
Iowa, but honestly, it raises some
0:22
unsettling questions for all of us. So,
0:25
picture this. You're 18 years old. Your
0:27
whole life has been spent in this
0:29
beautiful rural Iowa town and then you
0:31
get diagnosed with cancer. This is
0:33
exactly what happened to McKenzie
0:34
Dryden. And that one devastating
0:36
question you see here. Could something
0:38
in the land she loved have made her
0:40
sick? Well, that question started a
0:42
journey that uncovered something much,
0:43
much bigger. Because it turns out
0:46
McKenzie's story isn't some tragic,
0:48
isolated event. No, it's really just the
0:50
tip of the iceberg. It's a clue that
0:52
points to this deeply troubling pattern
0:54
of young adults getting sick all across
0:55
the Midwest. and it's forcing
0:57
communities to ask some really tough
0:59
questions. Questions that for a long
1:01
time nobody really wanted to touch.
1:03
Okay, let's look at the data because
1:05
this is where it gets really stark. A
1:07
Washington Post analysis laid it all
1:08
out. For Americans over 50, cancer rates
1:11
have actually dropped by about 10% since
1:14
1999. That's great news, right? But for
1:16
young adults, it's the exact opposite.
1:19
The rate is climbing. And in Iowa, for
1:21
people between 15 and 49, it has shot up
1:24
a staggering 25%. And this is not just
1:28
an Iowa problem. You have to understand,
1:30
a quiet epidemic is spreading across
1:33
America's agricultural heartland. Since
1:35
2015, the six biggest corn producing
1:38
states have developed a cancer rate for
1:40
young adults that's now 5% higher than
1:42
the rest of the country. I mean, you can
1:44
see a clear troubling split happening
1:46
right here. And this slide. Wow. This
1:50
just shows you how serious the situation
1:52
has become in Iowa specifically. At the
1:55
turn of the century, Iowa was ranked
1:57
18th for cancer rates in this age group.
1:59
Not great, but not at the top. Today,
2:02
it's ranked fifth. That's an enormous
2:05
and deeply concerning jump in just a
2:07
couple of decades. Now, as we start to
2:09
dig into what could possibly be behind
2:11
all this, I just want to quickly mention
2:13
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2:14
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2:16
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2:27
there in the description for you so it's
2:29
easy to find. Okay, so what on earth
2:31
could be causing this? You know, in a
2:33
region that's so dominated by
2:35
agriculture, the search for answers, it
2:38
always seems to lead back to the land
2:39
itself. And right at the center of this
2:42
whole controversy is glyphosate. You
2:44
probably know it as the main ingredient
2:46
in Roundup. And here's the problem. The
2:48
science is totally divided. You've got
2:50
the World Health Organization's cancer
2:51
agency saying back in 2015 that it's
2:54
probably carcinogenic, but then you have
2:56
the US Environmental Protection Agency
2:57
saying in 2020 that it's not likely to
3:00
cause cancer. This massive disagreement
3:02
has fueled this huge ongoing battle in
3:04
science and regulation. But, you know,
3:06
experts are warning that we can't just
3:08
fixate on one single chemical. A report
3:10
from the University of Iowa points out
3:12
that the state is basically a hot spot
3:14
for all kinds of potential risks. The
3:16
soil has some of the highest natural
3:18
radon levels in the country. The
3:20
groundwater is polluted with nitrates
3:21
from fertilizer, again the highest in
3:23
the nation. And people there are exposed
3:26
to these complex cocktails of
3:27
agrochemicals over decades, not just one
3:30
thing in a vacuum. And just to put this
3:32
all into perspective, a 2024 analysis
3:34
that looked at all the population level
3:36
data came to this absolutely stunning
3:38
conclusion. They said that the impact of
3:40
pesticide use on cancer rates might
3:42
actually rival the impact of smoking. I
3:45
mean, just let that sink in for a
3:46
second. That is a powerful, powerful
3:48
statement that completely reframes the
3:50
scale of this risk. So, beyond the
3:53
search for what's causing this, there's
3:55
the human toll. And these young
3:57
patients, they're finding themselves up
3:59
against the health care system that just
4:01
it wasn't designed for them. And that's
4:03
creating a whole new set of brutal
4:05
challenges. I mean, get this, young
4:08
people are consistently diagnosed at a
4:10
later, more dangerous stage. For breast
4:12
cancer, 40% of patients under 50 are
4:15
diagnosed late. Compare that to just 29%
4:18
of older women. And why? Well, so often
4:20
their symptoms get dismissed by doctors
4:22
who just think, "Oh, you're too young
4:24
for it to be something serious." This is
4:26
Beatatric Abang Twin. She was diagnosed
4:28
with stage 3 breast cancer at just 25.
4:31
And her words just capture this awful
4:33
paradox of being a young survivor. Yeah,
4:36
they might handle the aggressive
4:37
treatments better in the short run, but
4:39
they have to live with the consequences.
4:40
things like chronic fatigue, pain, nerve
4:43
damage for decades and decades longer.
4:46
And then there's one of the most
4:47
heartbreaking consequences of all,
4:49
infertility. For a young patient,
4:52
preserving their fertility is absolutely
4:54
critical, but it's often treated like
4:55
some kind of unaffordable luxury. Egg
4:58
freezing could cost $10,000 and it's
5:00
hardly ever covered by insurance. It
5:02
forces young people into an impossible
5:04
choice at the absolute worst moment of
5:06
their lives. And surviving cancer
5:08
doesn't mean you just go back to normal.
5:10
Not at all. Emily Hoffman was diagnosed
5:13
at 30. Her treatment just wrecked her
5:15
digestive system and it never recovered.
5:17
She literally spent a decade of her
5:19
life, her entire 30s, sick. She couldn't
5:22
eat. Eventually, she needed a port in
5:24
her chest just to get liquid nutrition
5:25
24/7. Her story really shines a light on
5:28
these severe long-term complications
5:30
that the medical system is still just
5:31
learning how to handle. But here's where
5:33
the story really takes a turn. These
5:36
young patients, they are absolutely
5:38
refusing to suffer in silence. They have
5:40
turned their personal pain into
5:41
collective action, building this
5:43
incredible movement to demand answers
5:45
and challenge the way things have always
5:47
been done in a region where these topics
5:49
were pretty much off limits for
5:50
generations. This is the Madison County
5:53
crew. After her diagnosis, McKenzie
5:56
Dryden discovered that within just a
5:58
couple of years, four other recent
6:00
graduates from her tiny high school,
6:02
we're talking only 500 students, had
6:04
also been diagnosed with advanced
6:05
cancers. Just seeing them listed out
6:07
like this, all in their early 20s, it
6:10
just makes this abstract problem feel
6:12
terrifyingly real. And you know what?
6:14
All their activism is actually working.
6:16
They're using social media to connect
6:18
and raise awareness. A local doctor,
6:20
who's also a state representative, made
6:22
a plea on TikTok that went viral. They
6:24
helped defeat a bill that would have
6:25
protected pesticide companies from
6:26
lawsuits. And now Iowa's governor has
6:29
launched a million-doll research
6:30
initiative to figure out why the state's
6:32
cancer rates are rising. This is what it
6:34
looks like when people at the grassroots
6:35
level decide to fight back. But even
6:37
with all of this progress, the central
6:39
haunting question is still there. Cole
6:42
Cer, one of the Madison County crew. He
6:44
wonders if it was his diet or maybe
6:46
drinking from the water hose as a kid or
6:49
something else entirely. His question
6:51
just hangs there and it captures the
6:52
deep uncertainty these young people are
6:54
living with every single day. Was it a
6:56
lifetime of little exposures all adding
6:58
up? To learn more, please check out the
7:00
resource article we've linked in this
7:01
video's description. If you found this
7:03
deep dive valuable, please do us a favor
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grow our channel and continue delivering
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7:09
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7:18
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