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Helpless to Prevent Cancer? Actually, Quite a Bit Is in Your Control

nytimes.com

61–70 of 171 posts

Re: Helpless to Prevent Cancer? Actually, Quite a Bit Is in Your Control

#61

To guys out there who still smoke. Please quit. It can be done.

You need an exit plan to succeed.

I believe in tested e-cigarettes and liquids to cut a chunk of chemicals. I wonder what other people do. Kick their ass into sport ? Reorganizing life ? more hobbies, more social life, more zen ?

Re: Helpless to Prevent Cancer? Actually, Quite a Bit Is in Your Control

#62
post #55

To guys out there who still smoke. Please quit. It can be done.

Yesterday I promised myself to not buy cigarettes anymore nor ask anyone to do it on my behalf. This first step only requires tremendous willpower when visiting a store, as the dispensers are placed at checkouts so I must stand right next to them when I'm in the queue.

Best of luck! It's disappointing how much of our world is designed to trick us into regressing into bad habits.

Re: Helpless to Prevent Cancer? Actually, Quite a Bit Is in Your Control

#63
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No deep psychology needed. With hearts, you open up and you see clogged arteries, for example. It doesn't get much simpler than "too much fat is bad for your heart". With cancer? It could be anything. And there are tons of different types, seemingly hitting all kinds of people, fat smokers and lean non-smoking vegans alike.

I've heard recently that the causality for heart disease actually goes the opposite way than everyone assumed. The body's response to inflamed arteries is to lay down a layer of fatty plaques to protect the arteries from further damage. The fat deposition is the effect of the inflammation, not the cause, and now researchers are trying to understand just what the real cause is. ...which just goes to show how complicat…

> I've heard recently that the causality for heart disease actually goes the opposite way than everyone assumed.

This "Assumption" would be a good case study of the infection of common knowledge with charlatanism.

Better scientists than Ancel Keys already knew that polyunsaturated oils were not appropriate for human consumption. Soybean oil and Linseed oil were used to make paint & stain, because they're good 'drying oils'.

But Dr. Key's theory was picked up by the mass media and used to demonize butter, and to promote garbage like "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter"...

People are easy to swindle.

Re: Helpless to Prevent Cancer? Actually, Quite a Bit Is in Your Control

#64
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No deep psychology needed. With hearts, you open up and you see clogged arteries, for example. It doesn't get much simpler than "too much fat is bad for your heart". With cancer? It could be anything. And there are tons of different types, seemingly hitting all kinds of people, fat smokers and lean non-smoking vegans alike.

> With hearts, you open up and you see clogged arteries, for example. It doesn't get much simpler than "too much fat is bad for your heart". The fat clogging our arteries doesn't necessarily come from dietary fat. A lot has changed when it comes to heart disease. For example, not even the USDA supports the claim that excessive dietary cholesterol is linked to heart disease anymore. Their new official stance is that y…

I've been reading a few recent papers about cardiology, but I didn't find a lot, could you list some references ?

ps: I tried to get off processed food for raw veggies and fruit, but most cities are flooded with utterly shitty ones. It's still a huge increase in terms of health (sugar really is like a drug), but way suboptimal.

Re: Helpless to Prevent Cancer? Actually, Quite a Bit Is in Your Control

#66
BMI is so bad.

I'm 6'0 and the last time I was under BMI 25 I was a triathlete. The only way I could be I did quit smoking though:

- Really wanted to - Picked a good mental argument against it ($100k CAD over 20 years) - Picked a quit date - Patch + zyban + nicotene lozenges

If you live in British Columbia, the government will pay for your patches or lozenges (hint: ask a friend)

Re: Helpless to Prevent Cancer? Actually, Quite a Bit Is in Your Control

#67
post #55

To guys out there who still smoke. Please quit. It can be done.

Yesterday I promised myself to not buy cigarettes anymore nor ask anyone to do it on my behalf. This first step only requires tremendous willpower when visiting a store, as the dispensers are placed at checkouts so I must stand right next to them when I'm in the queue.

My Dad quit smoking when I was little, back in the days when people "chain smoked" (i.e. They used a lighter once a day, and just kept lighting new cigarettes with their butts). He credits his success with this tactic: He loudly told everyone he knew that people who can't quit smoking are pussies. Fear of total public humiliation was enough to keep him from relapsing, or so he claims. He never did relapse that I saw though. He also told us this story often enough that none of us kids ever touched a cigarette.

Re: Helpless to Prevent Cancer? Actually, Quite a Bit Is in Your Control

#68
post #66

BMI is so bad. I'm 6'0 and the last time I was under BMI 25 I was a triathlete. The only way I could be I did quit smoking though: - Really wanted to - Picked a good mental argument against it ($100k CAD over 20 years) - Picked a quit date - Patch + zyban + nicotene lozenges If you live in British Columbia, the government will pay for your patches or lozenges (hint: ask a friend)

BMI isn't really reliable on a individual level as it doesn't take body composition into account. Athletes are generally "overweight" according to the BMI cutoff.

Re: Helpless to Prevent Cancer? Actually, Quite a Bit Is in Your Control

#69
post #66

BMI is so bad. I'm 6'0 and the last time I was under BMI 25 I was a triathlete. The only way I could be I did quit smoking though: - Really wanted to - Picked a good mental argument against it ($100k CAD over 20 years) - Picked a quit date - Patch + zyban + nicotene lozenges If you live in British Columbia, the government will pay for your patches or lozenges (hint: ask a friend)

Are you all muscle? If you were fat I'd suggest high fat low carb diet.

Re: Helpless to Prevent Cancer? Actually, Quite a Bit Is in Your Control

#70
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yesterday I promised myself to not buy cigarettes anymore nor ask anyone to do it on my behalf. This first step only requires tremendous willpower when visiting a store, as the dispensers are placed at checkouts so I must stand right next to them when I'm in the queue.

Best of luck! It's disappointing how much of our world is designed to trick us into regressing into bad habits.

I would think it only fair to put the burden of the health damage on the company who sells addictive products.

If you sell cigarettes and a customer looses part of the lung, you pay or behave to prevent. If you sell alcohol and a customer drives a car in a crowd, you pay or behave to prevent. If you are a narco and sell crack, you pay for the results. The problem is not the unknown problems with those substances, its the fact that the producers are detached from the consequences of their actions.

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