sv40 is a cancer causing virus that contaminated 1/3rd of all polio vaccines. From wikipedia: The discovery of SV40 revealed that between 1955 and 1963 around 90% of children and 60% of adults in the U.S. were inoculated with SV40-contaminated polio vaccines. Link to studies: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=sv40...
Was cancer less likely in a pre-industrial world?
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Re: Was cancer less likely in a pre-industrial world?
#62One thing which I always thought of, but which the article doesn't mention, is age. Especially older people seem more prone to cancer, so in my mind a lower life expectancy will naturally lead to a lower cancer rate, as people die before cancer "is able to get them". Or am I missing something?
This is a common misconception. Life expectancy hasn't changed much. It's children dying that bright down the average in earlier years. If you lived to your 20s your life expectancy was pretty much the same as it is now.
Living into your 80s was uncommon prior to, well, even 1950. Nowadays, many developed countries have significant cohorts of people 80+ and even 90+. Unfortunately, while those people are alive, they are not particularly healthy. We haven't yet learnt how to expand average "healthspan" as much as average "lifespan".
Re: Was cancer less likely in a pre-industrial world?
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think evolution plays a part in why older people are more prone. A debilitating illness in your teens is likely to stop you reproducing and is more likely to vanish. But a genetic trait for cancer later in life can get past on.
There must be some evolutionary fitting function that mutations serve that have prevented them from being selected out.
What I'd really like to know is incidence of cancer in marsupials, birds and fishes, one would predict it to be markedly lower.
Re: Was cancer less likely in a pre-industrial world?
#64sv40 is a cancer causing virus that contaminated 1/3rd of all polio vaccines. From wikipedia: The discovery of SV40 revealed that between 1955 and 1963 around 90% of children and 60% of adults in the U.S. were inoculated with SV40-contaminated polio vaccines. Link to studies: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=sv40...
"Studies of groups of people who received polio vaccine during 1955–1963 provide evidence of no increased cancer risk." [1] [1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25057632/
Re: Was cancer less likely in a pre-industrial world?
#65One thing which I always thought of, but which the article doesn't mention, is age. Especially older people seem more prone to cancer, so in my mind a lower life expectancy will naturally lead to a lower cancer rate, as people die before cancer "is able to get them". Or am I missing something?
Re: Was cancer less likely in a pre-industrial world?
#66Probably a dumb question, but I’ve wondered if plastic has anything to do with cancer in the modern era? Mostly everything we consume these days has been touched by a form of plastic.
I am wondering if microplastic is a factor in addition to air and water pollution, processed/pre-packaged food.
Another factor maybe humankind beating/cancelling natural selection due to modern medicine. So people who would normally perish in olden days are living longer only to be later killed by cancer.
There’s another factor of total population. More people means more diversity and more DNA copying errors? Can someone expert in this field comment on this?
Re: Was cancer less likely in a pre-industrial world?
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Studies of groups of people who received polio vaccine during 1955–1963 provide evidence of no increased cancer risk." [1] [1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25057632/
NIH is corrupt and often covers for big pharma which funds it. SV40 has consistently been found in tumors across the body: https://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/67/17/8065.short
Re: Was cancer less likely in a pre-industrial world?
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
Calling a lot of these things carcinogens is a little odd. It's not synonymous with harmful, and even harm isn't obvious for all of these. Food additives and processing in general? Gluten for people who tolerate it?
During the last 120 years wheat was optimized for machines making its gluten content higher that could explain higher gluten intolerance among people presently.
Re: Was cancer less likely in a pre-industrial world?
#69The modern age has possibly removed some carcinogens like inhaling smoke from (bon)fires, mycotoxins from spoilt food, nutritional illiteracy and unsanitary conditions. But the modern age has introduced a lot of new ones like tobacco, food additives, sugar, gluten, radiation, asbestos, industrial processing of food, pesticides, sedentary lifestyle.
Re: Was cancer less likely in a pre-industrial world?
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
Calling a lot of these things carcinogens is a little odd. It's not synonymous with harmful, and even harm isn't obvious for all of these. Food additives and processing in general? Gluten for people who tolerate it?
During the last 120 years wheat was optimized for machines making its gluten content higher that could explain higher gluten intolerance among people presently.