Health
Why cancer is hitting the Midwest harder than anywhere else in America
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While the rest of the country’s cancer rates are falling, those in Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana and Kansas — known as the Corn Belt — are rising at an alarming rate, data shows.
The spike in America’s corn-producing states caught the attention of the University of Iowa’s Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, which gathered a panel to investigate the trend.
One of the experts, Dr. Marian Neuhouser, a professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, served on the panel as an expert in nutrition and obesity.
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“The panel came about after they noticed that the trends for cancer incidence were increasing at a faster rate in Iowa than in other states,” Neuhouser told Fox News Digital.
A data analysis by The Washington Post based on federal health datasets found that the number of people diagnosed with cancer in the six Corn Belt states has outpaced the national average since the mid-2010s.
While the rest of the country’s cancer rates are falling, those in the Corn Belt states — Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana and Kansas — are rising at an alarming rate. (iStock)
In 1999, cancer rates in the Midwest were on par with the national average. Now, among residents aged 15 to 49, those rates are about 5% higher, a pattern that began diverging in the 2000s and has steadily widened.
The Post based its findings on data from the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which track cancer incidence nationwide.
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The analysis compared rates from 1999 through 2022 using multi-year averages for Iowa and excluding 2020 due to pandemic disruptions.
Experts probe causes
Neuhouser noted that some of the increases involve cancers that are preventable or detectable through screening.
Researchers are examining both environmental and lifestyle factors that could be driving the increase.
A panel of experts convened in Iowa after more numbers came out about the alarming spike in cancer rates. (iStock)
Outdoor UV exposure and high rates of binge drinking could be contributors, according to the Iowa Cancer Registry, part of the National Institutes of Health’s surveillance network.
Iowa’s Environmental Health Sciences Research Center has described the state as a “hot spot for environmental exposures to carcinogenic agents.”
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The soil and groundwater in the region reportedly contain some of the nation’s highest levels of natural radon and nitrate, largely because of fertilizer use in farming. Both substances have been linked to high risks of lung and gastrointestinal cancers.
Meanwhile, the widespread application of pesticides and herbicides, including glyphosate, continues to generate debate among scientists and regulators.
Where fields once symbolized abundance, they now raise questions about how the chemicals used to maintain them could affect people’s health. (iStock)
Risk of chemical exposure
Dr. Anne McTiernan, professor of epidemiology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, has analyzed decades of research on glyphosate and cancer risk.
“Glyphosate, a broad-spectrum herbicide, has been used in the U.S. for decades and is reported to be the most widely used pesticide globally,” she told Fox News Digital.
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The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as “a 2A carcinogen (“probably carcinogenic to humans”), which is the second-highest grade of carcinogen, according to McTiernan.
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Her review of studies through 2025 found that people with long-term, high exposure to glyphosate, such as those working on farms, had a roughly 40% higher risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma compared to those who were never exposed.
Researchers warn that the causes of cancer spikes in the Corn Belt may lie in decades of invisible exposure. (iStock)
This level of increased risk, combined with lab evidence that glyphosate can damage DNA and cause cellular stress, is considered strong enough to support a causal link, according to the expert.
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Role of obesity and alcohol
Lifestyle factors are also compounding risk. Per CDC data, about 21% of Iowa adults report heavy drinking or binge drinking, compared to roughly 17% nationally.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services reports that about 35% of adults in the state are classified as obese, placing it among 19 states with obesity prevalence at or above that level. Nationwide, the CDC reports an adult obesity rate of roughly 40%.
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Neuhouser noted that 13 separate cancers are linked to obesity.
“Everyone would like to be able to narrow down cancer risk … to one exposure, but cancer is so complex that it’s usually several factors working together,” she said.
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As the Trump administration moves to loosen federal restrictions on drugs — including a new step to ease regulations on state-licensed medical marijuana — questions are growing about cannabis use and its broader health effects.
Among them is a lesser discussed concern: men’s fertility.
During National Infertility Awareness Week, experts are drawing attention to the potential negative impact of both recreational and medical cannabis on male reproductive health.
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Cannabis use has been associated with changes in reproductive health for both males and females, though human evidence remains mixed.
“This is especially disheartening when men and women are actively trying to conceive and start a family,” Dr. Alta DeRoo, chief medical officer of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation in Minnesota, told Fox News Digital.
As the Trump administration moves to loosen federal restrictions on drugs, questions are growing about cannabis use and its broader health effects. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
A 2025 Harvard-linked study involving women undergoing fertility treatment revealed twice as many miscarriages among those using cannabis compared to non-users.
It’s a common misconception, however, that fertility issues are always due to an issue with the woman. Male infertility is more common than many think, according to Stephanie Seminar, MD, chief of the Reproductive Endocrine Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, a founding member of Mass General Brigham in Boston, Massachusetts.
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“Many individuals think infertility is a woman’s problem, [but] male infertility is common and under-evaluated,” Seminar told Fox News Digital.
Out of the 10% to 15% of couples worldwide who experience infertility, male factors cause or contribute to approximately 45% of those cases, data shows.
Cannabis use, particularly when heavy and chronic, can have negative effects on male fertility, a doctor cautioned. (iStock)
Having normal sexual drive and performance does not mean that a man has normal fertility, Seminar noted.
An evaluation of male infertility goes beyond semen analysis, examining factors like sexual dysfunction, toxin exposure, tobacco/cannabis use, childhood illnesses and past testosterone use, according to medical experts.
How cannabis may affect male fertility
Cannabis use, particularly when heavy and chronic, can have negative effects on male fertility, Seminar cautioned. Those can include changes in reproductive hormones and semen parameters, including decreased sperm counts or mobility.
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Cannabis can also impact sperm quality, the doctor said. “The sperm count or volume can be lower, and those sperm produced may be malformed and unable to swim effectively,” the doctor said.
Research supports this decline – a 2019 review published in The Journal of Urology found associations between cannabis use, especially the smoked form, and reduced semen quality.
“Many individuals think infertility is a woman’s problem, [but] male infertility is common and under-evaluated.”
Another study of 1,215 healthy young Danish men, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that smoking cannabis more than once per week was associated with a 28% lower sperm concentration and 29% lower total sperm count.
Combining marijuana with other recreational drugs more than once a week reduced sperm concentration and count even higher – by 52% and 55%, respectively.
Disruption of reproductive hormones
The human body produces its own natural endocannabinoids to regulate vital functions like fertility, as described in a Nature Reviews Urology analysis.
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Cannabis mimics these molecules with its two main compounds: cannabidiol (CBD) and THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which interact directly with the body’s endocannabinoid system.
Cannabis may interfere with the brain’s regulation of reproductive hormones, experts say. (iStock)
While THC can relieve pain or stimulate appetite, it also triggers the “high” that often leads to adverse side effects, like anxiety or paranoia, which have been widely documented in cannabinoid research.
When cannabis is consumed, external cannabinoids enter the body and bind to the same receptors as natural endocannabinoids, which may impair sperm quality and reproductive function, according to previous studies.
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Cannabis may interfere with the brain’s regulation of reproductive hormones, with some research suggesting it can alter levels of FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) and LH (luteinizing hormone), which signal the testes to support sperm production.
This hormonal suppression could contribute to fertility challenges in some cases, though researchers noted that human evidence remains mixed and continues to be studied.
Potentially reversible
Men planning to conceive should stop using cannabis, experts recommend, as it can significantly impair sperm quality, with higher usage correlating to worse outcomes.
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Any negative effects may be reversible, as fertility can be improved when couples stop cannabis use, DeRoo noted.
Experts recommend discontinuing cannabis use at least three months prior to conceiving to allow the body to generate a full cycle of healthy sperm.
Men planning to conceive should stop using cannabis, experts recommend, as it can significantly impair sperm quality. (iStock)
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine also encourages couples trying to conceive to avoid recreational drugs to maximize their chances of a healthy birth.
“Stopping the use of cannabis improves other areas of health in a person’s life, and conception or pregnancy can be a strong motivator for abstinence,” DeRoo added.
Cannabis use in the US
In 2021, nearly one in five Americans (52.5 million people) used cannabis, making it the most common federally illegal drug in the country, per CDC data.
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Statistics show that about 30% of users may develop cannabis use disorder at some point, which adversely impacts their daily activities.
Recreational cannabis is legal in roughly half of U.S. states, while medical marijuana is legal in a large majority (well over 30 states), according to the CDC. A small number of states still prohibit most forms of cannabis use.
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Coffee may do more than keep you going: It could have a noticeable impact on your digestive health, even if you drink decaf.
Researchers from APC Microbiome Ireland found that habitual coffee consumption alters the trillions of microbes living in the digestive tract, creating a chemical feedback loop that directly influences mood, stress levels and cognitive sharpness.
The study followed 62 participants to determine how coffee interacts with the microbiome. The group included 31 coffee drinkers and 31 non-coffee drinkers who went through a series of psychological tests and kept detailed journals about their diet and coffee consumption.
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The researchers defined “coffee drinkers” as those consuming three to five cups daily, a range the European Food Safety Authority deems safe and moderate.
After people stopped drinking coffee for two weeks and then started drinking it again, the bacteria in their digestive systems behaved differently than the non-drinkers, according to a press release.
“It’s a complex dietary factor that interacts with our gut microbes, our metabolism and even our emotional well-being.” (iStock)
“Coffee is more than just caffeine,” study author John Cryan, principal investigator at APC Microbiome Ireland, said in a statement.
“It’s a complex dietary factor that interacts with our gut microbes, our metabolism and even our emotional well-being.”
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The coffee drinkers were found to have higher levels of specific beneficial bacteria, such as Eggertella and Cryptobacterium curtum.
These microbes play a vital role in releasing gastric acids and creating bile, both of which help the body eliminate harmful bacteria and manage inflammation, the researchers noted.
The non-caffeine components of coffee, like polyphenols and antioxidants, may be doing the heavy lifting for mental health. (iStock)
Both caffeinated and decaf drinkers reported lower levels of perceived stress, depression and impulsivity. This suggests that the non-caffeine components of coffee, like polyphenols and antioxidants, are doing the heavy lifting for mental health.
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However, the two types of brew offer different perks. Caffeinated coffee was specifically linked to reduced anxiety and better focus, while decaf was shown to lead to significant improvements in learning and episodic memory.
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Researchers believe these cognitive gains in decaf drinkers may be tied to better sleep quality and increased physical activity.
Caffeinated coffee was specifically linked to reduced anxiety and better focus, while decaf led to significant improvements in learning and episodic memory. (iStock)
The study’s findings are limited by a small sample size, which may not accurately represent the diverse microbiome profiles found across different global populations.
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Because the research relied heavily on self-reported data regarding participants’ coffee habits and mood levels, the results are subject to memory errors and subjective bias, the researchers noted.
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The study also did not strictly control for other dietary variables, such as sugar and dairy additives, which could independently influence gut health and cloud the specific impact of the coffee bean itself.
The research was published in the journal Nature Communications.
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