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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

#91
post #16

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…

Ban burning wood in cities, they are even bigger sources of pm2.5

Make an exception for gasifier furnaces.

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

#92

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.

I am sorry for your loss. But I am curious what "ate correctly" meant for him. Would you be kind enough to provide some details?

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

#93
post #39

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…

My sincere admiration for the author's strength in the face of this terrible hardship. A person can also avoid cancer by choosing a career that is not cancer-inducing. Given the author's cabin crew history: 3.4% of female flight attendants reported having had breast cancer compared with 2.3% of women in the general population group 2.2% of female flight attendants reported having had melanoma skin cancer compared wit…

The skin cancer + flight attendant connection has to be due to white people working in the industry. People tend to fly to places with plenty of sun and warm climates. Australia's skin cancer rates are also very high, although not so much among the aboriginal population.

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

#94

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.

> There is nothing one can do to avoid disease eventually.

You can move where this cancer is rare.

https://ourworldindata.org/cancer#the-prevalence-of-cancer-a...

Or better yet, optimize for a total healthy lifespan, not just against cancer:

https://ourworldindata.org/burden-of-disease#the-global-dist...

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

#95

No description of lifestyle or diet before cancer in the text.

You can find it elsewhere. It’s likely to be good, considering they seem well-informed and wealthy enough to take advantage of that information. In any case, here we go: (the husband, but likely also the wife) > Nithin starts off his day with coffee just before his workout, and then has oats and whey protein. Then for his breakfast he has egg whites and vegetables with the water of a tender coconut. Around noon, he h…

He might seems in good shape, but "having a massive sweet tooth" can lead to atherosclerosis; even if you aren't fat.

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

#96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most common cancer: colon cancer, would be 95% preventable if only people got over silly notions about their butts and got a colonoscopy when they have reached age 45-50. Colon cancer takes a decade to develop from polyp to tumour. The main purpose of a colonoscopy is to find and snip any polyps there could be in the colon. Then you'd be safe from colon cancer for a decade or more. You would normally not feel muc…

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 is not due to cost, but profit. In the US the hospital makes more money if you get sedated. So why not offer, or even push it?

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

#97
post #46
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My sincere admiration for the author's strength in the face of this terrible hardship. A person can also avoid cancer by choosing a career that is not cancer-inducing. Given the author's cabin crew history: 3.4% of female flight attendants reported having had breast cancer compared with 2.3% of women in the general population group 2.2% of female flight attendants reported having had melanoma skin cancer compared wit…

Do pilots have similarly increased rates? Or does it likely correlate with lifestyle factors (sunbaking, smoking etc).

After some googling I found a few studies that seem to show an increased risk for pilots as well, particularly skin cancer. I think the increased risk of skin cancer is interesting since that would (layman's speculation) probably be the most affected by radiation.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12862322/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5559846/

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

#98

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…

The most common cancer: colon cancer, would be 95% preventable if only people got over silly notions about their butts and got a colonoscopy when they have reached age 45-50. Colon cancer takes a decade to develop from polyp to tumour. The main purpose of a colonoscopy is to find and snip any polyps there could be in the colon. Then you'd be safe from colon cancer for a decade or more. You would normally not feel muc…

I've had a colonoscopy and yeah: it's a nothing procedure. You're anesthetized for it and there's no recovery period so its just been and done. You also feel great afterwards from the prep medicine (at least I did).

If you have the money, I recommend a bidet toilet seat (which I recommend anyway) before you do the prep for it - makes the whole process a breeze.

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

#99
post #51
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My sincere admiration for the author's strength in the face of this terrible hardship. A person can also avoid cancer by choosing a career that is not cancer-inducing. Given the author's cabin crew history: 3.4% of female flight attendants reported having had breast cancer compared with 2.3% of women in the general population group 2.2% of female flight attendants reported having had melanoma skin cancer compared wit…

Maybe it is related to irregular sleep schedule. Also more exposure to uv radiation while flying.

Also, regular exposure to pathogens.

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

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most common cancer: colon cancer, would be 95% preventable if only people got over silly notions about their butts and got a colonoscopy when they have reached age 45-50. Colon cancer takes a decade to develop from polyp to tumour. The main purpose of a colonoscopy is to find and snip any polyps there could be in the colon. Then you'd be safe from colon cancer for a decade or more. You would normally not feel muc…

How many have you had? My understanding is the risk of a perforated colon is actually quite high, like 1 in 500. Do you worry about that risk? I got referred to a gastroenterologist before I was 45 and he talked me out of it because he didn't think it was going to show anything (my symptoms that I was referred there for were gone by then) and the risk wasn't worth it. Obviously if you're going to get some life-saving…

You consider 1 in 500 high? That's only 0.2%. At that rate, assuming the probability of complication for each procedure is independent from all the others, you could undergo the procedure 20 times with only about a 4% chance of complication. Since the American Cancer Society only recommends colonoscopy every 10 years, starting at age 45, most people wouldn't even have 5 procedures done in a lifetime, which would give about a 1% cumulative chance of complication.
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