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Why DNA damage from smoking and UV rays cause cancer in some but not others

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Re: Why DNA damage from smoking and UV rays cause cancer in some but not others

#101

Post by sebmellen »

tombert wrote: post #24

I've only ever smoked like a quarter of one cigarette when I was eighteen and I thought it was fucking gross so I never picked up the habit (fortunately). That said, I'm a pretty pale dude and my sister has gotten skin cancer twice now [1], so I've started getting a bit worried that that's going to happen to me. I've started wearing a baseball cap every time I go outside to protect my scalp (since my body has decided…

Take a look at sun protective gear like Coolibar. It’s actually very pleasant to wear even in summer.

Re: Why DNA damage from smoking and UV rays cause cancer in some but not others

#102

Post by porridgeraisin »

milesvp wrote: post #77
aantix wrote: post #3

Anecdotally, whenever I go swimming with my kids in the summer, and I don't put sunscreen on right away, but let myself get some intense direct sun, I feel good and sleep really well that night. As long as I don't let myself get in a red, sunburn situation.

Most likely that’s the nitric oxide (not to be confused with nitrous oxide) that is a biproduct of vitamin d synthesis which requires UV light. It is a natural muscle relaxer and is generally considered good for blood pressure and heart health in general.

Nutri oxide production is triggered by UVA, vit d which happens due to UVB.

Re: Why DNA damage from smoking and UV rays cause cancer in some but not others

#103

Post by DontchaKnowit »

Georgelemental wrote: post #94
crims0n wrote: post #47

As a millennial growing up it was beaten into our head that smoking was a death sentence. I recently looked up what the actual cancer rate among smokers was... about 125k people in the US die of lung cancer annual. 25 million people smoke annually. That is a 0.5% chance for occasional smokers. Even if you smoke a pack a day your entire life, the cancer rate is less than 15%. I am in no way saying it is okay to smoke,…

A pack a year is unlikely to kill you, but as others have said lung cancer is not the only worry. I work in healthcare, I see COPD all the time. It may or may not kill you, but it's a guaranteed PITA even if well-managed

Not to mention heart disease

Re: Why DNA damage from smoking and UV rays cause cancer in some but not others

#104

Post by Scoundreller »

ShinyLeftPad wrote: post #63
Mezzie wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strong recommend a UV umbrella. I also hate the feeling of sunscreen and will also fry the minute I so much as look at the sun. Also, linen clothing. Far more comfortable in heat while keeping you covered. Hoodies and jeans sounds miserable.

How is UV umbrella different from any normal umbrella?

A lot of plastics aren’t great at blocking/absorbing UV. And normal umbrellas, not being designed for UV, may lose a lot of their strength with heavy UV exposure from what they do absorb.

Re: Why DNA damage from smoking and UV rays cause cancer in some but not others

#105

Post by anon48293 »

pazimzadeh wrote: post #100
otikik wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My country, Spain, is famous for its beaches. Everyone native leaves the beach in the middle of the day and returns after lunch/siesta, when the rays are less intense. Tourists stay and get burn to a crisp

Cool anecdote but as I said, in the middle of the day you should go for a shorter amount of time (starting with just a few minutes) to get ideal UVB exposure. Tourists are an especially bad example since they often work indoors all year or come from less sunny countries, so the sudden sun exposure is doubly bad for them. Spain is sunnier yet has lower melanoma incidence than Northern Europe..almost like moderate sun…

Or like the people living there for generations have slightly darker skin which protects better against the sun..

Re: Why DNA damage from smoking and UV rays cause cancer in some but not others

#106

Post by TomMasz »

My mother smoked from age 12 until she was diagnosed with lung cancer at age 45. But the lung cancer was the result of metastasis from an advanced uterine cancer. A friend's mother, another long-time smoker, developed bladder cancer. Smoking's damage can manifest itself in multiple ways.

Re: Why DNA damage from smoking and UV rays cause cancer in some but not others

#107

Post by pipe2devnull »

tombert wrote: post #44
Mezzie wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strong recommend a UV umbrella. I also hate the feeling of sunscreen and will also fry the minute I so much as look at the sun. Also, linen clothing. Far more comfortable in heat while keeping you covered. Hoodies and jeans sounds miserable.

I've more or less gotten used to the jeans. Probably due to a combination of undiagnosed autism and some very mild bullying in middle school (due to me growing rapidly and people making fun of me for wearing "short shorts"), I have been almost exclusively wearing jeans for everywhere but the gym since eighth grade. The hoodies are a more recent thing and are more miserable. I'll check out linen clothing.

By hoodies do you mean the cotton ones with fleece linings or a lightweight breathable one? If it’s a thicker cotton one I can’t imagine wearing that in summer

Re: Why DNA damage from smoking and UV rays cause cancer in some but not others

#108

Post by tombert »

pipe2devnull wrote: post #107
tombert wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've more or less gotten used to the jeans. Probably due to a combination of undiagnosed autism and some very mild bullying in middle school (due to me growing rapidly and people making fun of me for wearing "short shorts"), I have been almost exclusively wearing jeans for everywhere but the gym since eighth grade. The hoodies are a more recent thing and are more miserable. I'll check out linen clothing.

By hoodies do you mean the cotton ones with fleece linings or a lightweight breathable one? If it’s a thicker cotton one I can’t imagine wearing that in summer

They are cotton but it’s cheap thin ones I bought at Walmart.

Re: Why DNA damage from smoking and UV rays cause cancer in some but not others

#109

Post by piguin »

pazimzadeh wrote: post #97
piguin wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The arms represent very little surface area: https://wikem.org/wiki/Estimating_body_surface_area A critical factor for doing a screening is how many bad burns you've had on the chest and back which would probably be similar to many times the burns on the arms in terms of surface area x added probability.

I like the idea of checking for that, but not sure the numbers add up. Anterior head + legs + arms = 31.5% Anterior + Posterior torsos = 36% > which would probably be similar to how many times the burns on the arms in terms of surface area x added probability I disagree, my whole point is that frequent low/moderate exposure (such as arms) reduces the chance of burning during high exposure I looked up the number, and…

My point is more that you are fishing for confirmation of your theory instead of answers that fit the data.

High sunscreen use (assuming rational choices for when to use it) and left arm truck driver risk is very consistent with a microeconomics model of UVR x filter factor on each cell determining probability for any given cell.

Some other problems with a study of Ontario work exposure are covered in the study itself. In essence this is low exposure compared to leisure time sun bathing that may be more desirable depending on work environment.

Re: Why DNA damage from smoking and UV rays cause cancer in some but not others

#110

Post by willy_k »

keeganpoppen wrote: post #91
coolThingsFirst wrote: post #9

Even if smoking didnt cause cancer it would still be terrible. 6 months since i quit using nic gums.

trying to get off vaping, myself, and it is both "not that hard" and... a very sticky habit. good for you. was never a smoker, but that doesn't make it a good habit.

This might not work for your current lifestyle (if you need to be able to properly use your brain for any meaningful portion of the day), but an effective method, at least for people already using thc, is to replace the nicotine vape with a thc cartridge and essentially stupify yourself every time you think about vaping. And be cognizant of the anxiety etc, so that you continue despite it. Stick to that for a week or two and it works surprisingly well.
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