2 ms·

We know that obesity and sedentary lifestyles have become vastly more common and significantly increase the risk of many cancers. We know that diagnosis rates h

We know that obesity and sedentary lifestyles have become vastly more common and significantly increase the risk of many cancers. We know that diagnosis rates have greatly increased because of widespread population screening, more sensitive diagnostic tests and improved access to healthcare. It shouldn't particularly surprise us that there has been a small but steady increase in the rate of diagnosed cancers in recent decades. We should be very cautious about immediately jumping to the conclusion that something we don't like (plastics, mobile phones, vaccines) is probably terribly carcinogenic despite the lack of causal evidence.

lonelyasacloud 3y ago
>> We should be very cautious about immediately jumping to the conclusion that something we don't like (plastics, mobile phones, vaccines) is probably terribly carcinogenic despite the lack of causal evidence. Think it depends If exposure is based on good evidence that it is safe, and/or personal choice is involved, then absolutely, e.g. Vaccines, RF. However, when humans are being exposed to an environment outside that to which we are adapted to (usually because the market has been largely left to get on with it), e.g. plastics exposure, continuous traffic and aircraft noise, pollution, sugar loaded convenience foods, fast food rich environments, places that prioritise vehicle movement over humans etc. Then in those cases its worth noting that historically they are good health outcomes, e.g. smoking, leaded petrol, alcohol, hydrogenated vegetable fat, DDT etc. In general there aren't that many animals that thrive in the long-term outside of their evolutionary niches. And personally as an Engineer I don't think waiting for the scientific process to fight its way through the vested interests to start doing something about things that are very likely problems is a sensible approach.
Findecanor 3y ago
Included in life-style factors is also that people are eating more meat than ever before. While meat itself isn't unhealthy, some ways of cooking and curing meat do introduce well-known cancer risks. Some common plastics are also known cancer risks — if you heat them up or dissolve them, and inhale the fumes. Personally, I believe my hobby with synthetic resins and styrene (using solvent-based "glue") is what could have caused the B-cell lymphoma that I am suffering from. I say "cancer risks" because it is not either/or: It is about probabilities. Cancer mutations actually happen often in the body, and the immune system is constantly fighting them. It is when the immune system loses that you "get cancer".

lonelyasacloud 3y ago

>> We should be very cautious about immediately jumping to the conclusion that something we don't like (plastics, mobile phones, vaccines) is probably terribly carcinogenic despite the lack of causal evidence. Think it depends If exposure is based on good evidence that it is safe, and/or personal choice is involved, then absolutely, e.g. Vaccines, RF. However, when humans are being exposed to an environment outside that to which we are adapted to (usually because the market has been largely left to get on with it), e.g. plastics exposure, continuous traffic and aircraft noise, pollution, sugar loaded convenience foods, fast food rich environments, places that prioritise vehicle movement over humans etc. Then in those cases its worth noting that historically they are good health outcomes, e.g. smoking, leaded petrol, alcohol, hydrogenated vegetable fat, DDT etc. In general there aren't that many animals that thrive in the long-term outside of their evolutionary niches. And personally as an Engineer I don't think waiting for the scientific process to fight its way through the vested interests to start doing something about things that are very likely problems is a sensible approach.

Findecanor 3y ago

Included in life-style factors is also that people are eating more meat than ever before. While meat itself isn't unhealthy, some ways of cooking and curing meat do introduce well-known cancer risks. Some common plastics are also known cancer risks — if you heat them up or dissolve them, and inhale the fumes. Personally, I believe my hobby with synthetic resins and styrene (using solvent-based "glue") is what could have caused the B-cell lymphoma that I am suffering from. I say "cancer risks" because it is not either/or: It is about probabilities. Cancer mutations actually happen often in the body, and the immune system is constantly fighting them. It is when the immune system loses that you "get cancer".