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

seema.page

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

#161
post #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?

Sad to see you being downvoted like this, but I wanted to know the same thing you asked.

It seems people are really sure that exercising a lot and not eating meat or whatever is the healthiest thing one can do, for weight and health reasons... But evidence says the complete opposite, most of the time.

People are so fascinated about the idea that exercise and certain foods are so good, that they don't even bother to check the studies and the evidence, they just know it's true for some reason. It doesn't matter that everyone you know is going to a gym or running (a million more times than, say, 50 years ago) and yet the populations are only getting more obese by the minute. Or how athletes are dying young and have many health issues everywhere... Or that indigenous people don't even hunt or do nothing at all for a week (between each hunting trip), and yet they are so thin and don't have cancer.

In other words, no one really knows yet if running several kilometers every day is good for you, or if it's actually killing you. And no one knows yet what exactly is "to eat correctly", though I'm pretty sure all the stuff we've read in those paid studies made in the last 100 years are just absolute garbage.

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

#162
post #49

Seema is the wife of the founder of one of the biggest online stock brokerage firm called Zerodha.

How does it change anything in the article?

Perspective. This is a cancer story of someone well-to-do and is very likely not to match a lot of folks' experience.

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

#163

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.

The US loves to sedate. You guys get absolutely blasted when you have your wisdom teeth removed. In most of Europe you get strong pill painkillers for the first few days and then it’s paracetamol.

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

#164
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's me and my experience with testicular cancer. No known causes, no family history, no risk factors other than being a white male. I was even outside the typical age range. Sometimes life just kicks you in the nuts. Literally in my case :-)

I am sorry you are having to deal with that. Did you perform monthly self-exams? My doctor gets onto me for not doing them, but everything on those lumpy bastards feels like cancer. I don’t know what I am doing. I suppose if I’d felt a few pair that did have issues, I would know what to look for, but short of going on Craigslist, that’s not going to happen. Anyhow, I sincerely hope your issue is just an “oh yeah. tha…

Thank you for the kind words! I'm hopefully on the other side of it now having gone through it about 1.5 years ago. Smack in the middle of the original COVID peak, which made the situation all the more fun. I'm in what they call "careful observation" or "surveillance" now - blood work every 3 months, CT scan every 6. So far, so good!

I did perform the monthly self-exams, and that is how I was lucky to have caught it so early. I had a similar feeling about "how am I going to feel a lump on this thing" for years, but when the time came it was a combination of feeling what I thought was a lump but feeling what I KNEW was a difference.

The trick is in doing the exam enough times to know the lay of the land well. Then it becomes an exercise in detecting a difference, rather than a specific bump.

A decent plan of attack might be to start with your next physical/yearly visit. The doctor should check them out, so take that opportunity to ask any questions or even ask for a walkthrough on how to do it yourself. At that point you know you're "good", so anything you are feeling is just how yours are. Then just practice the exam and build your mental map.

For what it's worth, most of the lumps we think we feel tend to be the epididymis which is at the top and can run down the back of the testicle. Also, the cords can get in the way sometimes. We've got some space down there, take advantage of it to shift things around to get a different angle!

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

#165

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…

You can take it as far as you want to—and then you can still get cancer. A healthy lifestyle helps put the odds in your favour, but is no guarantee whatsoever.

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

#166
In our modern societies there are lots of cancer risk involved that (most) people can not see.

For example using a microwave with microscopic cracks in the glass and staying nearby. All the diesel particles and exhaust car fumes and tire dust in the cities. The terrible air quality near maritime ports because of the bad quality ships do with ultra cheap fuels.

The extermination of gut microbiota with the use of pesticides and the use of artificial sweeteners.

Genetically engineered food that is flooded in pesticides(engineered so the plant can withstand them).

The excess use of liquid oils and refined sugars that were never consumed by humans and that are correlated with cancer and cardiovascular disease.

The excess use of the fridge and premade foods making essential nutrients go away as the food freezes, so you eat but starve.

Contraceptive pills that are hormone bombs in your body.

Chemical products like benzene that industries like energy extraction's leak on aquifers and Perfluorooctanoic acid you could generate just burning a teflon pan you forget to put oil or butter in(or using the 3d printer with exotic materials).

All of those risk can be extreme but most people just can't see it. I have seen people burn out a teflon pan and not understand that they have to trow it away immediately. I have seen people handling benzene like water.

You can believe that you are eating healthy because you eat lots of vegetables but if those are flooded in pesticides, then it is not so healthy.

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

#167
post #147

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…

Timely colonoscopies save lives. However, I have a hunch that frequent colonoscopies are maybe not a good idea. Doubts: 1. We know more but we don't know all things creating colon cancer. Knowing the existence of cancers caused by viruses, disinfection procedures applied on the device could matter a lot. 2. Even if we disinfect properly, we know of a notorious little fellow: H.pylori, which can go down to the intesti…

> It's necessary but every year? Doubtful without more data.

Did you read the part where the commenter said that they have an unusual genetical condition and that's the reason they have yearly colonoscopies?

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

#168

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…

After being diagnosed with colon cancer when I was 26, I'd say start even earlier. Don't settle for "it's probably just hemorrhoid's". That's the reason my kids will start when they are 16. Does anyone know why I got cancer? No. Does it really matter? Honestly, no. Just to re-iterate the point: Go through all the screening you can, cancer (of any form) is easer treated when caught early. Or even prevented.

If you got it at 26, I'd recommend a gene test to see if there is a hereditary factor, and for your kids too.

That is what I have. "Luckily", out of four siblings, I'm the only one that tested positive and therefore the only one in my family that gets checked every year.

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

#169

In our modern societies there are lots of cancer risk involved that (most) people can not see. For example using a microwave with microscopic cracks in the glass and staying nearby. All the diesel particles and exhaust car fumes and tire dust in the cities. The terrible air quality near maritime ports because of the bad quality ships do with ultra cheap fuels. The extermination of gut microbiota with the use of pesti…

Why does the glass matter in a microwave oven? I thought the metal box (and the metal mesh) was enough to block.

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

#170
post #123

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 wha…

First explanation seems to be easy to verify. RCT with two groups of (similar demographic) people. Everyone is given a full body checkup for finding cancer. Half of them are treated for any cancer found and the other half are left as is. Check the longevity and status of cancer in both groups.

> and the other half are left as is.

Is that ethically acceptable?

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