Cancer hitting younger people

[Loren Pechtel]

I strongly suspect that obesity and inactivity is the issue.

Yes, there are carcinogens in food, but they are typically way below natural hazard levels and things the consumer does. BBQ over charcoal for example. Smoke is bad for you. Even if it's eaten rather than inhaled.

The other thing that comes to mind is HPV--I do not think it's causing the cancer spike, but it was basically a chance discovery that hasn't been possible for all that long. Rather, we know of one virus whose only symptom is cancer--and cancer in basically anything it gets into. Unique things aren't common, if there's one there's probably more.

 

[steve_bank]

There are a number of variables.

A good diet with a sedentary lifestyle leads to cardiovascular problems.

A weight lifter who smokes with a fast food diet leads to vascular problems and risk of cancers.

It is hard to separate the variables.

It is not just cancer, cardiovascular diseases onceonsder an older age prelim has pushed down as far as teens.

We have become sedentary. Nothing new there.

The term today is Holistic, looking at the entire lifestyle.

One of my favorite old movies is a 1950s British film Witness For The Prosecution. The man character is an obese smoking, drinking, and overeating lawyer. He needs a memorized chiar to get up and down stairs.

He has nurse who tries to keep him from drinking and smoking and makes sure he takes his meds.

Likls between lifestyle and health have been known for a long time.

 

[TSwizzle]

What about cultures that have lower incidence of cancers, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, etc....until they adopt a western developed nation lifestyle and diet, at which point their general health becomes just like ours, or worse.

Fair points all but the concern is that while US cancer rates are for the most part falling, there has been a noticeable uptick in cases in younger people, even people that are reasonably fit or would be considered low risk.