Costa Rica’s High Stomach Cancer Rate – What causes it?

Costa Rica has a high stomach cancer rate and although many people have made intelligent suggestions as to the possible causes, to my knowledge nobody has come up with any conclusive medical proof.

Some people have suggested that it’s the high use of pesticides in Costa Rica, others have mentioned that sugar is used in the roasting process of the poor man’s coffee, others, the fact that the Ticos eat lots of margarine and raw mangos slathered in salt, some believe it’s caused by aflatoxins which are produced by certain fungi in and on foods and feeds or maybe, it’s because so many vegetables are grown in volcanic soil.

“Stomach cancer has always been the prime cause of deaths from cancer in Costa Rica, and this may be partly due to nitrous volcanic soils. Other volcanic countries such as Chile and Japan also have high rates.”

“Costa Rica comes behind only Japan, South Korea, and North Korea in terms of incidence of the disease, with about 52 per 100,000 people in 1998, compared with 77 per 100,000 in Japan. However, of these 52 people, 45 will die within five years, compared with just 35 of the 77 per 100,000 in Japan.”

Costa Rica is an incredibly fertile country and people all over the world go bananas for our bananas! However fertile doesn’t just mean that the food we want to eat grows well, everything – including worms that attack citrus, pineapple and banana plants – thrives and this why people use different kinds of pesticides which are deadly for the insects and some have also proven to be exceedingly dangerous for humans too…

Costa Rica uses a lot of pesticides or more accurately nematicides in the production of bananas and bananas are big business in Costa Rica.

“Global export volumes of Costa Rica bananas reached a record 113.5 million boxes, or over two billion kilos of bananas (18.14 kg/ box).” “During 2008, the area of Costa Rica banana reached 43,313 hectares, which indicates an increase of 1.13% compare to the total area in 2007.”

“The hegemony over the banana economy in the these last ten decades has been in the hands of three transnational companies that originated from the United States: the United Fruit Company (now Chiquita Brands International), Standard Fruit (now Dole, a subsidiary of Castle and Cooke) and Del Monte Fresh Produce (owned, since 1996, by the IAT Group).”

“Costa Rican environmentalists have decried that the banana industry, mainly run by US fruit conglomerates, such as Chiquita, del Monte and Dole, has devastated the Costa Rican eco-system with the toppling of rain forests, heavy erosion of the soil-base and the use of vast amounts of the DBCP pesticides.”

In their book ‘Circle of Poison‘ David Weir and Mark Schapiro write about: “When workers at Occidental’s DBCP plant in California discovered in 1977 that many of them were sterile, the State of California banned the use of DBCP outright.”

“Many of the trucks carrying Amvac’s DBCP were bound for the Gulfport, Mississippi, loading docks of Standard Fruit & Steamship Company, a subsidiary of Castle & Cooke. At Gulfport, the light blue drums were loaded onto a “banana ship,” destined for Puerto Limón in Costa Rica, La Ceiba in Honduras, or Guayaquil in Ecuador. ”

Costa Rica started using DBCP in 1965 but thankfully; “In 1979, the use of the nematicide DBCP (Di-Bromo-Chloro-Propane 1,2,3) was suspended owing to evidence of toxic sterility amongst the DBCP operatives…. Thousands of banana workers who suffer from sterility and reduced sperm-count as a result of exposure to DBCP have been seeking compensation through the United States courts.”

Banana plantation workers turn out to be the population at greatest risk. Nowhere in the literature is there a higher incidence of medical treatment for pesticide poisoning than can be observed on Costa Rican banana plantations. In Costa Rica, severe contamination of the soil, phyto-toxicity, pest resistance, the generation of new pests and contamination of bananas with toxic residues has been reported.

The damage to the soil in areas of formerly great agricultural potential has been diagnosed as almost irreversible. An investigation by Thrupp (1988) revealed that the content of copper used in the majority of lands used for agriculture normally contain between 20 and 50 parts per million, and that, in contrast, the soils of the banana plantations of the South Pacific exceed any normal limits, and can be as high as up 4,000 ppm.

Could Costa Rica’s High Stomach Cancer Rate Be Caused By A Bacteria?

A couple of our VIP Members are very adamant that a bacteria is the main culprit behind the high stomach cancer rate in Costa Rica…

Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori for short) was first discovered in the stomachs of patients with gastritis & stomach ulcers nearly 25 years ago by Dr Barry J. Marshall and Dr J. Robin Warren of Perth, Western Australia. At the time (1982/83) the conventional thinking was that no bacterium can live in the human stomach as the stomach produced extensive amounts of acid which was similar in strength to the acid found in a car-battery. Marshall & Warren literally “re-wrote” the text-books with reference to what causes gastritis & gastric ulcers.

In recognition of their very important discovery, they were Awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize for Medicine & Physiology.

“Helicobacter pylori is a spiral shaped bacterium that lives in the stomach and duodenum (section of intestine just below stomach). It has a unique way of adapting in the harsh environment of the stomach.” It causes a chronic low-level inflammation of the stomach lining and is strongly linked to the development of duodenal and gastric ulcers and stomach cancer. Over 80% of individuals infected with the bacterium are asymptomatic.”

“More than 50% of the world’s population harbour H. pylori in their upper gastrointestinal tract so it’s the most widespread infections in the world. Infection is more prevalent in developing countries. Prevalence appears to be higher in African-American and Hispanic populations, although this is likely related to socioeconomic rather than racial factors.”

“Infection by Helicobacter pylori (also known as H. pylori) is believed to be the cause of most stomach cancer while autoimmune atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia and various genetic factors are associated with increased risk levels. It is not currently believed that diet has any role to play.”

Helicobacter pylori is contagious, although the exact route of transmission is not known. Person-to-person transmission by either the oral-oral or fecal-oral route is most likely. Consistent with these transmission routes, the bacteria have been isolated from feces, saliva and dental plaque of some infected people. Transmission occurs mainly within families in developed nations yet can also be acquired from the community in developing countries. H. pylori may also be transmitted orally by means of fecal matter through the ingestion of waste-tainted water, so a hygienic environment could help decrease the risk of H. pylori infection.

According to Wikipedia: “Stomach or gastric cancer can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs and the liver. Stomach cancer causes about 800,000 deaths worldwide per year.”

To detect a Helicobacter pylori infection you can have a blood test done to check for the antibodies, you could have a stool test or, you could do a carbon urea breath test. “However if the blood test is negative you can be reassured that you never had and you do not have an H.pylori infection. By the same token if your blood test is positive you cannot be certain that you have a current active H.pylori infection. Only a breath test will clearly indicate whether you have a current infection.”

We all try to make sure our cars are in good shape when we drive them, we take them every year to get tested to make sure that they are well maintained and safe to drive but why do we neglect to do the same kind of maintenance checks on ourselves? You can see what medical checkups the AAFP and the American Medical Association recommend here.

To see how complicated the diagnostic process is, on the 15th June 2009 I chose to do the Helicobacter pylori blood test at one of the Laboratorios Clinicos Echandi nearby which took less than 15 minutes and cost 12,500 colones (less than US$22) and they had the “Negativo” results (below) for me in less than 24 hours.

Having lived in Costa Rica for nearly ten years, it’s good to know that even though my daily diet contains a huge amount of raw vegetables and fruit that this dangerous bacteria has not yet managed to invade my system.

This does not mean that I won’t get stomach cancer but it does mean that if I do, it will not be caused by the Helicobacter pylori bacteria… Or, maybe this bacteria simply can’t compete with a wee tipple of single malt whiskey …

If you care about yourself and your loved ones, then you should be asking your Doctor about what kinds of regular medical checkups you should do to ensure all is well and, for less than US$22 why not get the Helicobacter pylori blood test to set your mind at ease?

Disclaimer: Please note that we do NOT claim to be a Doctor or any kind of a medical professional. The information provided here in this article has been taken from websites considered to be authoritative on the topic and we would hope that prior to doing anything that you would seek professional medical advice.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.