The tendency to explain increase in youth cancer by stress, even among HN readers, is somewhat unsettling to me. It is an almost unfalsifiable explanation, plus

The tendency to explain increase in youth cancer by stress, even among HN readers, is somewhat unsettling to me. It is an almost unfalsifiable explanation, plus, historically, people had a lot of stress too - Gen Z is absolutely not uniquely distressed. Was there an epidemic of youth cancer among Holocaust survivors or people who lived through the terror of the Khmer Rouge? Likely not. It also tends to conflict with causes of those cancers that we were able to discover, and which are usually almost monocausal, especially in younger age. The main reason for lung cancer isn't stress, but tobacco smoke. The main reason for mesothelioma isn't stress, but exposure to asbestos. The main reason for cervical cancer isn't stress, but HPV infection. The main reason for stomach cancer isn't stress, but Helicobacter pylori infection. In all likelihood, the current cancer resurgence isn't caused by stress either. I suspect something much more specific, like microplastics.