4 ms·

As someone who works in healthcare, I don't disagree with the entire sentiment here, with the exception of screening. In my opinion, it would be simpler and mor

As someone who works in healthcare, I don't disagree with the entire sentiment here, with the exception of screening. In my opinion, it would be simpler and more cost effective to monitor cancerous and precancerous indicators rather than immediately go for surgery/treatment. Most people probably freak out if you tell them they have a golf ball sized growth on their kidney though.

fredgrott 7y ago
Yeah, but we are still missing those inputs form the previous life years that lead to cancer, ie exposure to chemicals through work, diet, etc as its the environmental load that matters here combined with the genetics profile of course
loceng 7y ago
And then to take it one step further: focusing on prevention and being proactive, which may require more research funding, however that no one can or is widespread promoting a solid set of known practices to reduce cancer is a problem.
- smt88 7y ago
  > however that no one can or is widespread promoting a solid set of known practices to reduce cancer is a problem My friend at American Cancer Society would take issue with that statement. He flies all over the world educating public health officials about how to fight tobacco use. Tobacco by itself is a huge cause of preventable cancers. The next big one is sun exposure, so ACS also promotes proper sunscreen use (and avoidance of tanning beds). The ones caused by genes and random mutations are also a large percentage, but you can't teach people how to avoid those. People should get radon tests in their home as well. Most lung cancer is either due to tobacco or radon. After that, there isn't much advice specific to cancer: eat moderately and exercise.
  - nonbel 7y ago
    There is a skin cancer pandemic since health authorities started warning people to avoid the sun. It is found mostly in people who avoid/block the sun and not eg people who work outside everyday. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20231499 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20231499 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20541680 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20541680 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1694089/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1694089/ Also, tobacco smoke seems to be an exceptionally weak carcinogen. It is near impossible to get it to cause cancer in animals (while eg, radioactive dust easily does so). Think about it, people expose themselves almost 24 hrs per day for decades and still less than 25% get lung cancer. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15765916 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15765916 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29370344 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29370344
    - smt88 7y ago
      > It is found mostly in people who avoid/block the sun and not eg people who work outside everyday. This is classic confusion of correlation and causation. People with lighter skin are aware of the increased risks of sun exposure and avoid/block the sun. Further, a lot of outdoor labor in the US is now done by people with darker skin (e.g. immigrants from Mexico with indigenous heritage). Finally, sunblock isn't perfect. At-risk people can reduce, but not eliminate, the chances of developing a tumor. European-descended people are living in climates far south of where they evolved light skin, so cancer is inevitable. > Also, tobacco smoke seems to be an exceptionally weak carcinogen So is radon. What's your point? It may be weak, but it causes a massive number of avoidable tumors and deaths per year.
      - nonbel 7y ago
        There was no confusion of correlation and causation in my post. It is a clearly stated correlation. Broad spectrum sunblock may be less than perfect, but until recently all sunblock was transparent to UVA. It blocked UVB which prevented the natural sunburn/tan/thickening response without preventing the DNA damage. Given the huge growth in skin cancers since people started wearing sunblock it seems likely that it was actively harmful for this reason.
  - credit_guy 7y ago
    >After that, there isn't much advice specific to cancer There's HPV (human papillomavirus) that causes cervical cancer. It's preventable by a vaccine (e.g. Gardasil). Helicobacter Pylori can cause stomach cancer. If detected early it can be eliminated with a two week antibiotic treatment.

fredgrott 7y ago

Yeah, but we are still missing those inputs form the previous life years that lead to cancer, ie exposure to chemicals through work, diet, etc as its the environmental load that matters here combined with the genetics profile of course

loceng 7y ago

And then to take it one step further: focusing on prevention and being proactive, which may require more research funding, however that no one can or is widespread promoting a solid set of known practices to reduce cancer is a problem.

smt88 7y ago
> however that no one can or is widespread promoting a solid set of known practices to reduce cancer is a problem My friend at American Cancer Society would take issue with that statement. He flies all over the world educating public health officials about how to fight tobacco use. Tobacco by itself is a huge cause of preventable cancers. The next big one is sun exposure, so ACS also promotes proper sunscreen use (and avoidance of tanning beds). The ones caused by genes and random mutations are also a large percentage, but you can't teach people how to avoid those. People should get radon tests in their home as well. Most lung cancer is either due to tobacco or radon. After that, there isn't much advice specific to cancer: eat moderately and exercise.
- nonbel 7y ago
  There is a skin cancer pandemic since health authorities started warning people to avoid the sun. It is found mostly in people who avoid/block the sun and not eg people who work outside everyday. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20231499 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20231499 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20541680 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20541680 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1694089/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1694089/ Also, tobacco smoke seems to be an exceptionally weak carcinogen. It is near impossible to get it to cause cancer in animals (while eg, radioactive dust easily does so). Think about it, people expose themselves almost 24 hrs per day for decades and still less than 25% get lung cancer. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15765916 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15765916 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29370344 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29370344
  - smt88 7y ago
    > It is found mostly in people who avoid/block the sun and not eg people who work outside everyday. This is classic confusion of correlation and causation. People with lighter skin are aware of the increased risks of sun exposure and avoid/block the sun. Further, a lot of outdoor labor in the US is now done by people with darker skin (e.g. immigrants from Mexico with indigenous heritage). Finally, sunblock isn't perfect. At-risk people can reduce, but not eliminate, the chances of developing a tumor. European-descended people are living in climates far south of where they evolved light skin, so cancer is inevitable. > Also, tobacco smoke seems to be an exceptionally weak carcinogen So is radon. What's your point? It may be weak, but it causes a massive number of avoidable tumors and deaths per year.
    - nonbel 7y ago
      There was no confusion of correlation and causation in my post. It is a clearly stated correlation. Broad spectrum sunblock may be less than perfect, but until recently all sunblock was transparent to UVA. It blocked UVB which prevented the natural sunburn/tan/thickening response without preventing the DNA damage. Given the huge growth in skin cancers since people started wearing sunblock it seems likely that it was actively harmful for this reason.
- credit_guy 7y ago
  >After that, there isn't much advice specific to cancer There's HPV (human papillomavirus) that causes cervical cancer. It's preventable by a vaccine (e.g. Gardasil). Helicobacter Pylori can cause stomach cancer. If detected early it can be eliminated with a two week antibiotic treatment.