4 ms·

I'm curious if anyone has any insight. The recent rise in this does feel like something dietary or environmental will be involved. The fact that it's colon canc

I'm curious if anyone has any insight. The recent rise in this does feel like something dietary or environmental will be involved. The fact that it's colon cancer definitely suggests dietary type exposures. Are there major changes in diet in the past few decades that we can point to? Are there some countries where this is happening and others where it isn't?

pydry 4y ago
My guess would be more processed food. The other most likely culprit is alcohol, but young people are drinking less of that.
- programmarchy 4y ago
  Could also be compounded by sitting on our asses all day (literally, not figuratively).
- steve_adams_86 4y ago
  If I recall correctly, those figures in the USA and Canada for example have been falling very slightly only recently, after decades of increasing. I suspect the rates of cancer we see wouldn’t have had a chance to decrease as a result. Cancer from poor nutrition is a cumulative thing, so we wouldn’t see meaningful changes from a few % decrease in alcohol consumption for many years (if at all). This may be different in other countries too, so apologies if you aren’t thinking strictly within the North America bubble.
- rubicon33 4y ago
  My guess is either some chemical or food additive used in the industrial processing of foods that we are consuming in processed foods, or even more terrifying if true, some kind of pesticide that has been introduced in the last 20 years and is only now bearing its teeth.
  - steve_adams_86 4y ago
    It’s tempting to suspect something awful like that, but looking at high quality meta analyses of the lifestyles of people who get most common diseases will reveal just how harmful our diets are — even without pesticides and industrial additives bearing teeth. It’s consistent the world over; you can plainly eat, drink, and sit yourself to death. I’m not saying the pesticides and preservatives don’t matter, I just doubt anything new has popped up to make things worse. It’s already been pretty bad for many decades. In the case of Lawson, it could have been a case of genetics rather than diet; she appears relatively healthy and is very young. But these outliers aren’t unheard of, and make for a kind of shocking story when presented with statistics about cancer rates in younger adults increasing. The average age is much higher though, and the health of the average person getting these cancers is likely worse. This isn’t anything all that new, and more so a continuation of trends.
- inciampati 4y ago
  I was thinking of that or maybe pesticides. Something like pesticides could be visible from different effects in different countries.
- Qem 4y ago
  > My guess would be more processed food. Mine would be colon proximity to pockets where we carry our omnipresent smartphones all day around. I think a simple test to this hypothesis is to see if there is correlation between tumor position and if the person is left or right handed, as the phone probably will be stored in a preferred side pocket, according to handedness.
  - Supermancho 4y ago
    This is a good idea and I would donate to such a study.
chiefalchemist 4y ago
What has increased is the consumption of sugar, HFC and/or faux sweeteners. All are seen as harmless and normalized. You can thank Big Sugar for that. The type and level of sugars is historically abnormal (as is the consumption of animal proteins). https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/13/493739074/50-years-ago-sugar-industry-quietly-paid-scientists-to-point-blame-at-fat https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/13/493739074...
kyleyeats 4y ago
My vote is for added iron. Processed food producers add iron that can't be digested to lots of foods (cereal is the biggest offender) to look good for the nutrition label. It just drags along the GI tract at higher and higher concentrations as you digest your food.
BlanchedAlmond 4y ago
Too many things. Added on purpose to food (preservatives, etc), added on purpose to produce (pesticides, etc..), added by chance to processed food (mineral oil...).
throw_away1525 4y ago
Microplastics and weird chemicals like phthalates? I've been on a health kick lately and on paper tinned sardines seem excellent. Tons of protein, calcium, omega 3, etc... You can get them packed in water or mustard or tomato sauce or olive oil if you are worried about seed oils (which I am, and lots are packed in sunflower oil). Low mercury. Too bad that 100 grams of sardines can contain up to 30 milligrams of microplastics! Turns out that the ocean is full of plastic, which plankton eat since microplastics are just the right size for them, then the sardines eat the plankton. And then if you eat sardines... Of course most people aren't getting cancer from eating sardines, but microplastics are absolutely ubiquitous. Sardines are just a great example of a huge concentration of microplastics where you might not expect it. (Oh and don't forget the BPA in the tin's plastic lining! Oh it's BPA free? I guess they used BPC as a plasticizer... there are very few studies about BPC so I guess it must be safe!) There was a study recently that showed fast foods contained huge amounts of phthalates - the researchers linked it to the plastic gloves that the food workers wear. Which is disgusting - why are we afraid of human skin touching our food? Do you honestly think people replace gloves more readily than they wash their hands?

pydry 4y ago

My guess would be more processed food. The other most likely culprit is alcohol, but young people are drinking less of that.

programmarchy 4y ago
Could also be compounded by sitting on our asses all day (literally, not figuratively).
steve_adams_86 4y ago
If I recall correctly, those figures in the USA and Canada for example have been falling very slightly only recently, after decades of increasing. I suspect the rates of cancer we see wouldn’t have had a chance to decrease as a result. Cancer from poor nutrition is a cumulative thing, so we wouldn’t see meaningful changes from a few % decrease in alcohol consumption for many years (if at all). This may be different in other countries too, so apologies if you aren’t thinking strictly within the North America bubble.
rubicon33 4y ago
My guess is either some chemical or food additive used in the industrial processing of foods that we are consuming in processed foods, or even more terrifying if true, some kind of pesticide that has been introduced in the last 20 years and is only now bearing its teeth.
- steve_adams_86 4y ago
  It’s tempting to suspect something awful like that, but looking at high quality meta analyses of the lifestyles of people who get most common diseases will reveal just how harmful our diets are — even without pesticides and industrial additives bearing teeth. It’s consistent the world over; you can plainly eat, drink, and sit yourself to death. I’m not saying the pesticides and preservatives don’t matter, I just doubt anything new has popped up to make things worse. It’s already been pretty bad for many decades. In the case of Lawson, it could have been a case of genetics rather than diet; she appears relatively healthy and is very young. But these outliers aren’t unheard of, and make for a kind of shocking story when presented with statistics about cancer rates in younger adults increasing. The average age is much higher though, and the health of the average person getting these cancers is likely worse. This isn’t anything all that new, and more so a continuation of trends.
inciampati 4y ago
I was thinking of that or maybe pesticides. Something like pesticides could be visible from different effects in different countries.
Qem 4y ago
> My guess would be more processed food. Mine would be colon proximity to pockets where we carry our omnipresent smartphones all day around. I think a simple test to this hypothesis is to see if there is correlation between tumor position and if the person is left or right handed, as the phone probably will be stored in a preferred side pocket, according to handedness.
- Supermancho 4y ago
  This is a good idea and I would donate to such a study.

chiefalchemist 4y ago

What has increased is the consumption of sugar, HFC and/or faux sweeteners. All are seen as harmless and normalized. You can thank Big Sugar for that. The type and level of sugars is historically abnormal (as is the consumption of animal proteins). https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/13/493739074/50-years-ago-sugar-industry-quietly-paid-scientists-to-point-blame-at-fat https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/13/493739074...

kyleyeats 4y ago

My vote is for added iron. Processed food producers add iron that can't be digested to lots of foods (cereal is the biggest offender) to look good for the nutrition label. It just drags along the GI tract at higher and higher concentrations as you digest your food.

BlanchedAlmond 4y ago

Too many things. Added on purpose to food (preservatives, etc), added on purpose to produce (pesticides, etc..), added by chance to processed food (mineral oil...).

throw_away1525 4y ago

Microplastics and weird chemicals like phthalates? I've been on a health kick lately and on paper tinned sardines seem excellent. Tons of protein, calcium, omega 3, etc... You can get them packed in water or mustard or tomato sauce or olive oil if you are worried about seed oils (which I am, and lots are packed in sunflower oil). Low mercury. Too bad that 100 grams of sardines can contain up to 30 milligrams of microplastics! Turns out that the ocean is full of plastic, which plankton eat since microplastics are just the right size for them, then the sardines eat the plankton. And then if you eat sardines... Of course most people aren't getting cancer from eating sardines, but microplastics are absolutely ubiquitous. Sardines are just a great example of a huge concentration of microplastics where you might not expect it. (Oh and don't forget the BPA in the tin's plastic lining! Oh it's BPA free? I guess they used BPC as a plasticizer... there are very few studies about BPC so I guess it must be safe!) There was a study recently that showed fast foods contained huge amounts of phthalates - the researchers linked it to the plastic gloves that the food workers wear. Which is disgusting - why are we afraid of human skin touching our food? Do you honestly think people replace gloves more readily than they wash their hands?