4 ms·

I went thru very aggressive cancer treatment a few years ago (am a woman in my late thirties) for a type that was def not lifestyle caused nor hereditary. So fa

I went thru very aggressive cancer treatment a few years ago (am a woman in my late thirties) for a type that was def not lifestyle caused nor hereditary. So far so good. I have received great care but no one has given me so much as a hypothesis as to what caused it. The type I had is rising amongst women under 50. If I had to hypothesize, stress and trauma are large contributors. I don't think by any means that previous generations (women in particular) had it 'easier,' but I think the nature and persistence of low-grade psychological stress we carry now is unique. And our support systems are worse.

11235813213455 2y ago
if I can ask what kind of stress was it? Because most stress comes from lifestyle
- xeromal 2y ago
  I assume they're talking about the doomscrolling / social media / letting the world dictate your emotions kind of stress.
  - carbine 2y ago
    No, I am talking about the high-stress job and abusive partner kind of stress.
    - xeromal 2y ago
      Got you. I thought medieval work life would be comparable to our modern lives so I've been looking in other corners.
      - carbine 2y ago
        Perhaps true but medieval life expectancy was not particularly great.
        xeromal 2y ago
        I think it was pretty decent once you made it past childhood. I want to say it was around the mid 60s
        dogbait 2y ago
        Life expectancy in medieval Engalnd was early 30s in the cities (accounting for infant mortality). Source: https://sc.edu/uofsc/posts/2022/08/conversation-old-age-is-not-a-modern-phenomenon.php#:~:text=Life%20expectancy%20at%20age%2025,in%20medieval%20England%20was%2025.7 https://sc.edu/uofsc/posts/2022/08/conversation-old-age-is-n.... Once a person hit adulthood it was low 50s and if memory serves early 60s if you were wealthy.
- kergonath 2y ago
  That is true if you can afford to isolate yourself from the rest of the world. Otherwise, social interactions are a source of stress over which you don’t have much control even if you give up on social media. Or the way society works in general. Or the state of politics. Or the environment. “It’s your lifestyle” is an easy answer that is far from complete. It is also a common way of blaming the victim. It is very difficult for most people to extract themselves from their social situation.
  - carbine 2y ago
    You can do a great deal. I have changed my life completely. We underestimate our power over our circumstances.
- carbine 2y ago
  I addressed this in the comment below and sure, stress comes from lifestyle. By lifestyle I'm referring more directly to diet, choosing not to smoke/do drugs, exercise, etc. I was a lifelong athlete, non smoker, healthy eater.
thinkingtoilet 2y ago
Why does there have to be a hypothesis? Why can't it just be random? I understand the need to identify a reason, but randomness exists and there's a good chance that had more of a role in it than anything else.
- carbine 2y ago
  Sure, it can be. But that's about as disempowering a thought as you can have if you need to try to live life as a cancer survivor. If you have any inkling that something may have contributed to its cause then you potentially have agency to help prevent it from recurring.
Diederich 2y ago
> I don't think by any means that previous generations (women in particular) had it 'easier,' but I think the nature and persistence of low-grade psychological stress we carry now is unique. And our support systems are worse. This is very well said and quite important in my opinion. As a senior GenXer, I grew up during the cold war, and things were looking pretty scary for us (human civilization) for several years in the 1980s. I remember asking a number of my high school peers if they expected to be around by the age of 21 and more than half though that we'd be nuked by then. (We lived in a place surrounded by primary targets.) Personally, I was raised by my grandparents, who were born in the late 1910s, grew up on farms where starvation was very close by a lot of the time. My grandfather fought in a number of bloody locations in World War 2 while my grandmother helped build bombers. I admit, for a while, I was somewhat skeptical of claims that Millennials were dealing with a lot of stress, but I've grown out of that fortunately. "I think the nature and persistence of low-grade psychological stress we carry now is unique. And our support systems are worse" is absolutely right on target, and I think the science is starting to catch up. I'm glad you're doing well with your cancer treatment. One thing most people don't realize is how much better, on average, the prognosis is for cancer in developed countries, though the rise of various types is certainly very concerning. May I ask what kind of cancer you had? Thank you.
- carbine 2y ago
  Yes, agreed. I think in this industry we ought to sometimes reflect on how hard we expect everyone to work, and how hard we push people who may not always be in situations where they should be pushing. I'm generally a believer that hard work is good and that startups are worth investing considerable time and energy into, and I love my career. But working in this industry has certainly been hard on my health, despite ALL my other choices being very "healthy." Leaders have pushed me to ignore my body in order to produce results many times, over prolonged periods of time. If you don't mind, I won't get into the specific type of cancer here, I'm particularly protective of my ability to remain psychologically positive about it and I don't want to encounter HN-style analysis of my specific type.
  - Diederich 2y ago

11235813213455 2y ago

if I can ask what kind of stress was it? Because most stress comes from lifestyle

xeromal 2y ago
I assume they're talking about the doomscrolling / social media / letting the world dictate your emotions kind of stress.
- carbine 2y ago
  No, I am talking about the high-stress job and abusive partner kind of stress.
  - xeromal 2y ago
    Got you. I thought medieval work life would be comparable to our modern lives so I've been looking in other corners.
    - carbine 2y ago
      Perhaps true but medieval life expectancy was not particularly great.
      - xeromal 2y ago
        I think it was pretty decent once you made it past childhood. I want to say it was around the mid 60s
        dogbait 2y ago
        Life expectancy in medieval Engalnd was early 30s in the cities (accounting for infant mortality). Source: https://sc.edu/uofsc/posts/2022/08/conversation-old-age-is-not-a-modern-phenomenon.php#:~:text=Life%20expectancy%20at%20age%2025,in%20medieval%20England%20was%2025.7 https://sc.edu/uofsc/posts/2022/08/conversation-old-age-is-n.... Once a person hit adulthood it was low 50s and if memory serves early 60s if you were wealthy.
kergonath 2y ago
That is true if you can afford to isolate yourself from the rest of the world. Otherwise, social interactions are a source of stress over which you don’t have much control even if you give up on social media. Or the way society works in general. Or the state of politics. Or the environment. “It’s your lifestyle” is an easy answer that is far from complete. It is also a common way of blaming the victim. It is very difficult for most people to extract themselves from their social situation.
- carbine 2y ago
  You can do a great deal. I have changed my life completely. We underestimate our power over our circumstances.
carbine 2y ago
I addressed this in the comment below and sure, stress comes from lifestyle. By lifestyle I'm referring more directly to diet, choosing not to smoke/do drugs, exercise, etc. I was a lifelong athlete, non smoker, healthy eater.

thinkingtoilet 2y ago

Why does there have to be a hypothesis? Why can't it just be random? I understand the need to identify a reason, but randomness exists and there's a good chance that had more of a role in it than anything else.

carbine 2y ago
Sure, it can be. But that's about as disempowering a thought as you can have if you need to try to live life as a cancer survivor. If you have any inkling that something may have contributed to its cause then you potentially have agency to help prevent it from recurring.

Diederich 2y ago

> I don't think by any means that previous generations (women in particular) had it 'easier,' but I think the nature and persistence of low-grade psychological stress we carry now is unique. And our support systems are worse. This is very well said and quite important in my opinion. As a senior GenXer, I grew up during the cold war, and things were looking pretty scary for us (human civilization) for several years in the 1980s. I remember asking a number of my high school peers if they expected to be around by the age of 21 and more than half though that we'd be nuked by then. (We lived in a place surrounded by primary targets.) Personally, I was raised by my grandparents, who were born in the late 1910s, grew up on farms where starvation was very close by a lot of the time. My grandfather fought in a number of bloody locations in World War 2 while my grandmother helped build bombers. I admit, for a while, I was somewhat skeptical of claims that Millennials were dealing with a lot of stress, but I've grown out of that fortunately. "I think the nature and persistence of low-grade psychological stress we carry now is unique. And our support systems are worse" is absolutely right on target, and I think the science is starting to catch up. I'm glad you're doing well with your cancer treatment. One thing most people don't realize is how much better, on average, the prognosis is for cancer in developed countries, though the rise of various types is certainly very concerning. May I ask what kind of cancer you had? Thank you.

carbine 2y ago
Yes, agreed. I think in this industry we ought to sometimes reflect on how hard we expect everyone to work, and how hard we push people who may not always be in situations where they should be pushing. I'm generally a believer that hard work is good and that startups are worth investing considerable time and energy into, and I love my career. But working in this industry has certainly been hard on my health, despite ALL my other choices being very "healthy." Leaders have pushed me to ignore my body in order to produce results many times, over prolonged periods of time. If you don't mind, I won't get into the specific type of cancer here, I'm particularly protective of my ability to remain psychologically positive about it and I don't want to encounter HN-style analysis of my specific type.
- Diederich 2y ago