Is it easy to get liver cancer if you have hepatitis B when you are young? Can eating too much ginger increase the risk of liver cancer?

Is it easy to get liver cancer if you get hepatitis B when you are young?

The younger a child is when he or she is infected with hepatitis B, the greater the risk of liver cancer when he or she grows up. At the 5th Beijing Public Health Forum, Zhuang Hui, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, pointed out that hepatitis B vaccination is the most effective way to prevent hepatitis B infection.

my country is a high-prevalence area for hepatitis B infection. In recent years, the epidemiological characteristics of hepatitis B in the city have changed significantly, mainly due to changes in the transmission route. Due to the planned immunization of newborns with hepatitis B vaccine, the proportion of mother-to-child transmission has decreased, but medical transmission, sexual transmission, and extra-intestinal transmission have increased significantly. The World Health Organization reports that about 32% of new hepatitis B cases worldwide each year are caused by unsafe injections. Hepatitis B virus is mainly transmitted through blood, blood products, broken skin and mucous membranes, mother-to-child and sexual contact. Transmission through the skin and mucous membranes mainly occurs when medical devices, syringes, invasive diagnostic and treatment operations and surgeries that have not been strictly sterilized are used, as well as intravenous drug abuse.

Zhuang Hui also reported that more than 90% of children infected with hepatitis B in the neonatal period will develop chronic hepatitis when they grow up, while only 5% to 10% of those infected with hepatitis B in adulthood will develop chronic hepatitis. The 5-year incidence of cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B is 12% to 25%; the 5-year incidence of liver cancer in patients with cirrhosis is 6% to 15%, and the 5-year incidence of liver failure is about 20%.

Therefore, experts recommend that newborns should be vaccinated with hepatitis B vaccine as soon as possible within 24 hours after birth. Due to the widespread vaccination of hepatitis B vaccine, the incidence of hepatitis B in children aged 0 to 4 years in Beijing has dropped from 20.5 per 100,000 in 1990 to 0.4 per 100,000.

Can eating too much ginger increase the risk of liver cancer?

There are many proverbs similar to the traditional view that "a man cannot live without ginger for a day, and a woman cannot live without sugar for a hundred days", such as "keep ginger at home, and you won't panic if you have a minor illness", "eat ginger often in summer, and you will live longer and stay healthy", "eat radish in winter and ginger in summer, and you won't need a doctor to prescribe medicine", "eat ginger in all seasons, and all diseases will be gone", and "eat three slices of ginger in the morning, which is better than ginseng soup". These proverbs all affirm the health benefits of ginger. It should be affirmed that natural spices do have the functions of promoting blood circulation, dispelling cold, removing dampness, and sweating, especially ginger has the functions of promoting bile, strengthening the stomach, stopping vomiting, eliminating fishy smell, and eliminating edema. However, ginger also contains an ingredient that is not good for health - safrole.

Safrole, a component of ginger, may cause liver cancer

Research by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shows that safrole can cause liver cancer. Adding 0.04% to 1% safrole to the feed of mice for 150 days to 2 years can induce liver cancer in mice. The process by which safrole is metabolized into active carcinogens is now relatively clear: safrole is first metabolized into phenylethanol in the mouse body, and then activated and converted into acetate or sulfate, becoming the final carcinogen. If safrole combines with oxidants, it will produce epoxy safrole with stronger carcinogenic activity.

Safrole is not allowed as a food additive in the United States

Safrole is no longer allowed as a food additive in the United States. Recently, the European Union Expert Committee decided to further reduce the permitted dosage of safrole within the EU to reduce its harm to the human body. The Codex Alimentarius Committee on Food Additives is currently initiating the formulation of the "Guidelines for the Use of Flavors", which stipulates that the maximum limit of safrole in food and beverages is 1 mg/kg.