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I am the healthiest person I know, and I got cancer

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Re: I am the healthiest person I know, and I got cancer

#71

Post by rob74 »

mjbeswick wrote: post #54
epistasis wrote: post #8

Individually, a person can reduce their cancer risk with a few things like not smoking, and avoiding sunburns, etc. but that does not eliminate the risk of cancer. It's not a disease that primarily comes from unhealthy living. That said, there is a toooon of cancer that we can prevent as a society though better public health messaging and better environmental laws, such as creating housing and cities that ban cars, s…

Half of cancers in the developed world are due to lifestyle; so how you live has a huge impact in you chances of developing cancer. People often overlook other factors that increase your chances of developing cancer such as obesity, exposure to viruses, immunodeficiency, background radiation etc. Humans are in quite an unlucky position when it comes to developing cancer, due to our relatively small size and long life…

One other major factor people also overlook is genetics - not that you can do anything about it, but if you have cases of cancer in your family, you should probably be extra careful. Plus the obvious things like fair-skinned people needing to be more careful about skin cancer etc.

Re: I am the healthiest person I know, and I got cancer

#72

Post by gambiting »

Gareth321 wrote: post #55
gambiting wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is an interesting difference between the way countries approach this btw. In US, sedation is standard and used in 90%+ of colonoscopies. In UK sedation is rarely used unless specifically requested by the patient, you usually get some gas and air instead. It's not even due to cost, it's just that sedation for colonoscopy is generally unnecessary, it's an uncomfortable but not particularily painful procedure.

It's unnecessary but a lot of pain medication is "unnecessary." We use it to reduce pain because we don't like to feel pain. This seems self evidently common sense to me. In New Zealand my colonoscopies were carried out with ketamine, which is incredibly safe under medical supervision. Unless there are contraindicated medical conditions, I see no reason not to use something like ketamine or a light dose of oxygenated…

>>or a light dose of oxygenated nitrous oxide.

Which is what "gas and air" is in the context of my comment.

Re: I am the healthiest person I know, and I got cancer

#73

Post by IG_Semmelweiss »

Seems relecant to put here.

Intermittent fasting has been proven to significantly lower the risk of breast cancer in particular. There was a landmark study less than 2 years ago that hit the top page of HN.

"Intermittent fasting once a week for 4 seeks cuts risk of breast cancer by ~40% "

The jury is still deliberating whether it also lowers the risk of other forms of cancer.

Hopefullt it does!

Re: I am the healthiest person I know, and I got cancer

#75

Post by cleancoder0 »

11235813213455 wrote: post #50

I think healthy/unhealthy is not just about "very healthy diet, good fitness routine, good sleep, low stress, and no other health issues" It's actually also about regularly stressing your body with things like cold/hot exposure (using natural elements/seasons), for example a pragmatic daily fitness (for example commuting with a bike) instead of a more 'artificial' fitness in a gym, an organic diet foraged yourself (w…

It's not that complicated. Some people are unlucky.

There is nothing one can do to avoid disease eventually.

Some people start getting sick in their 80s, some die healthy & peacefully in their sleep in their 90s and some get cancer being <10 years old.

Re: I am the healthiest person I know, and I got cancer

#76

Post by ComradePhil »

Here's an alternate explanation:

Maybe cancer is way to common and keeps being formed in the human body... but also the body gets rid of it by itself. This is why most people who have cancer never find out about it.

The few people who are always going for "regular screenings" are the only ones who find out about it and get "treatment" when it was completely unnecessary.

Here's another alternate explanation:

Maybe what is marketed as "healthy" by the food industry by funding scientific research and selecting results favorable to them is not really healthy.

Re: I am the healthiest person I know, and I got cancer

#77

Post by lormayna »

As usual correlation don't imply causation. My uncle was a professional national level runner, he was the healtier person that I know: he ran several kilometers every day, ate correctly, no drinking, no smoking, sleep at least 8 hours/day, etc. He died from cardiovascular problems.

This not means that a correct and healty lifestyle is not going to reduce the risk, but it's not the only factor.

Re: I am the healthiest person I know, and I got cancer

#78

Post by ajuc »

Gareth321 wrote: post #55
gambiting wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is an interesting difference between the way countries approach this btw. In US, sedation is standard and used in 90%+ of colonoscopies. In UK sedation is rarely used unless specifically requested by the patient, you usually get some gas and air instead. It's not even due to cost, it's just that sedation for colonoscopy is generally unnecessary, it's an uncomfortable but not particularily painful procedure.

It's unnecessary but a lot of pain medication is "unnecessary." We use it to reduce pain because we don't like to feel pain. This seems self evidently common sense to me. In New Zealand my colonoscopies were carried out with ketamine, which is incredibly safe under medical supervision. Unless there are contraindicated medical conditions, I see no reason not to use something like ketamine or a light dose of oxygenated…

In Poland they give you option for sedation, but advise against it because sedation disables the feedback from patient and that slightly increases the risk of complications. When they do the procedure they ask how you feel and when it gets too uncomfortable they change the angle etc.

I've had like a dozen of colonoscopies (have to be checked every year cause of risk factors), and they were never really painful.

Re: I am the healthiest person I know, and I got cancer

#79

Post by mjbeswick »

medion wrote: post #7
refurb wrote: post #3

I recall a study that estimated ~2/3rds of all cancers are due to uncontrollable factors outside of lifestyle choices - genetics, random mutations, etc.

Being in control of the other third is fairly significant... Seems almost too significant?

Even things that people don't usually associate with cancer have an impact, such as alcohol consumption, medication, oxidative stress caused by diet etc...

Re: I am the healthiest person I know, and I got cancer

#80

Post by rob74 »

irjustin wrote: post #67

From a personal perspective, I feel that opening sentence. Genetics has had me have high blood pressure since I was 25, left handed, prostate, lung cancer in family. I put effort into low salt diets, exercise, monitoring, some small drugs, yet I know a lot of people who are significantly less healthy will outlive me. From time to time - I feel the pang of bitterness at that notion. It is 100% recognized, my overall d…

If it makes you feel any better, the study that claimed that left-handed people have a much shorter life expectancy has been debunked: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23988352. Left handed myself...
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