4 ms·

While still not citing sources, I'd seen hypotheses that the leftward bias in USians may be due to driving on the left and consequently getting more rads throug

by Arubis 3y ago

While still not citing sources, I'd seen hypotheses that the leftward bias in USians may be due to driving on the left and consequently getting more rads through open windows on the left side. That seems at least less ridiculous than the proposed mechanism here.

tomxor 3y ago
I agree, for melanoma that seems more plausible, and UV imaging of drivers faces commonly reveals large difference in UV skin damage on the driver side, although this doesn't do much to explain the higher occurrence on the "trunk", unless either more people than I think like to drive naked, or melanoma is part localised to source of damage and part not? They also mention the UK at one point, and we drive on the opposite side, with the opposite side of the driver exposed. It's not clear from the article which countries are and are not included in the left side bias, I cannot find their sources. They also annoyingly skip over whether or not Japanese commonly sleep on their sides, because I suspect that could have a larger affect than any miniscule electromagnetic standing waves on some springs. If you've ever slept on a futon, you will know they are far less squishy, they are plenty comfortable, but do not deform as much, so you are more likely to end up sleeping on your back. Sleeping on your side could cause increased compression of soft tissue due to less equally distributed weight, especially on the hips and arms, which affects blood circulation, which can cause tissue damage, which can cause cancer (especially when the damage is chronic). ... but that's just a tiny seed of a theory, there are so many co factors with cancer, and comparing accross entirely different cultures it's basically impossible to tell anything from some correlation. Another huge area that massively affects cancer and pretty much all disease is diet, and the common western diet is far from healthy compared to Asian diets.
- JohnBooty 3y ago
  and UV imaging of drivers faces commonly reveals large difference in UV skin damage on the driver side Is this true for the general population, or just professional drivers who drive 8+ hours a day? Auto glass blocks a significant amount of UV radiation, and one certainly doesn't see people walking around with lopsided facial tans. It seems to me that for a significant amount of UV light to reach the side of a driver's face: - the sun would have to be rather low in the sky (at which point a significant portion of UV radiation is blocked by atmospheric scattering anyway) - the window would have to be rolled down - the car would need to be traveling in a specific heading (if the sun is low in the western sky, the driver would need to be traveling north in order to have significant exposure)
JohnBooty 3y ago
I don't think the "driving" hypothesis is silly, but it should also be pretty easy for a study to correlate driving habits to cancer rates. Has that never been studied? Anecdotally, I just don't see many people driving with their arms hanging out of the window, or even with the windows down any more. Cars are all sealed up and climate-controlled these days. Also anecdotally, I don't see people walking around with lopsided tans, although I realize we're talking about small differences here. Also worth noting that auto glass blocks a significant portion of UV rays. From the article: Stranger still, melanoma most commonly affects the hip, thighs and trunk, which are areas of the body protected from the sun. Could slightly increased sun exposure on one's left arm and result in increased cancers elsewhere on one's left side? Seems unlikely to me, but I am not an oncologist.
- mannykannot 3y ago
  > Could slightly increased sun exposure on one's left arm and result in increased cancers elsewhere on one's left side? I'm no doctor, but I wondered if metastasis via the lymphatic system might be a possible explanation. From my utterly cursory search, I get the impression that the lymphatic network is a common route of metastasis, but while it might spread melanoma from the arm to the trunk (and perhaps preferentially to the same side), it seems to go the wrong way to be the vector from there to the hips and thighs. There's also the question of whether a melanoma that has spread to the lymph nodes is still counted as an instance of melanoma, and the most I can say about that is that one paper I skimmed seemed to be using the term in that manner. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7729077/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7729077/

by Arubis 3y ago

tomxor 3y ago

I agree, for melanoma that seems more plausible, and UV imaging of drivers faces commonly reveals large difference in UV skin damage on the driver side, although this doesn't do much to explain the higher occurrence on the "trunk", unless either more people than I think like to drive naked, or melanoma is part localised to source of damage and part not? They also mention the UK at one point, and we drive on the opposite side, with the opposite side of the driver exposed. It's not clear from the article which countries are and are not included in the left side bias, I cannot find their sources. They also annoyingly skip over whether or not Japanese commonly sleep on their sides, because I suspect that could have a larger affect than any miniscule electromagnetic standing waves on some springs. If you've ever slept on a futon, you will know they are far less squishy, they are plenty comfortable, but do not deform as much, so you are more likely to end up sleeping on your back. Sleeping on your side could cause increased compression of soft tissue due to less equally distributed weight, especially on the hips and arms, which affects blood circulation, which can cause tissue damage, which can cause cancer (especially when the damage is chronic). ... but that's just a tiny seed of a theory, there are so many co factors with cancer, and comparing accross entirely different cultures it's basically impossible to tell anything from some correlation. Another huge area that massively affects cancer and pretty much all disease is diet, and the common western diet is far from healthy compared to Asian diets.

JohnBooty 3y ago
and UV imaging of drivers faces commonly reveals large difference in UV skin damage on the driver side Is this true for the general population, or just professional drivers who drive 8+ hours a day? Auto glass blocks a significant amount of UV radiation, and one certainly doesn't see people walking around with lopsided facial tans. It seems to me that for a significant amount of UV light to reach the side of a driver's face: - the sun would have to be rather low in the sky (at which point a significant portion of UV radiation is blocked by atmospheric scattering anyway) - the window would have to be rolled down - the car would need to be traveling in a specific heading (if the sun is low in the western sky, the driver would need to be traveling north in order to have significant exposure)

JohnBooty 3y ago

I don't think the "driving" hypothesis is silly, but it should also be pretty easy for a study to correlate driving habits to cancer rates. Has that never been studied? Anecdotally, I just don't see many people driving with their arms hanging out of the window, or even with the windows down any more. Cars are all sealed up and climate-controlled these days. Also anecdotally, I don't see people walking around with lopsided tans, although I realize we're talking about small differences here. Also worth noting that auto glass blocks a significant portion of UV rays. From the article: Stranger still, melanoma most commonly affects the hip, thighs and trunk, which are areas of the body protected from the sun. Could slightly increased sun exposure on one's left arm and result in increased cancers elsewhere on one's left side? Seems unlikely to me, but I am not an oncologist.

mannykannot 3y ago
> Could slightly increased sun exposure on one's left arm and result in increased cancers elsewhere on one's left side? I'm no doctor, but I wondered if metastasis via the lymphatic system might be a possible explanation. From my utterly cursory search, I get the impression that the lymphatic network is a common route of metastasis, but while it might spread melanoma from the arm to the trunk (and perhaps preferentially to the same side), it seems to go the wrong way to be the vector from there to the hips and thighs. There's also the question of whether a melanoma that has spread to the lymph nodes is still counted as an instance of melanoma, and the most I can say about that is that one paper I skimmed seemed to be using the term in that manner. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7729077/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7729077/