About a million people aged below 50 die of cancer annually, a study says, projecting another 21 percent rise by 2030.
I think a lot of it is increase in diagnostic capabilities.
Ah yes, the significantly higher diagnostic capabilities of death by cancer
This article kind of made a mess of the numbers. At one point it suggests the mortality rate increased, but that’s not what the actual research shows.
From OG article: “Our study showed that the global morbidity of early-onset cancer increased from 1990 to 2019, while mortality and DALYs slightly decreased”
https://bmjoncology.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000049
The vast majority of the raw numbers increasing is because of the word population going from 5.3 billion to 7.75 billion in that same time. The next cause does seem to be diagnostic ability, especially when looking at what cancers saw the biggest increase.
So, correct me if I’m wrong, but the actual number when speaking relative to population growth would be:
180% / (7.75 Billion / 5.3 Billion) = 123.1%
So it’s actually only a 23% increase, relatively.
I think the argument they’re making is that detecting that a death is caused by cancer is probably not an advanced affair requiring new diagnostic technology.
Personally, I think it’s an interesting question, given that it stands to reason that cancer, by the time it has caused death, should be pretty easily detectable in any sort of autopsy.
A lot blaming pfas and microplastics, but obesity is up too. According to the cdc that increases risk significantly in 13 types of cancer. Of course now looking up some are linking pfas to weight gain so maybe you guys are right!
There needs to be a lot more studies on obesity and why it’s gone up so much. I don’t buy the “more sedentary lifestyle” argument. Our mobility hasn’t changed THAT much in the last 50 years, at least not enough to explain the absolutely skyrocketing cases of obesity.
There’s a big link between poverty and obesity. People in poverty tend to be more active due to more physically demanding jobs, so it feels like the cause has to be from cheap food. While a lot of people might immediately look to high fructose corn syrup, I’m not sure it’s that simple. Obesity rates are rising even in places that don’t use HFCS in everything. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some additive or preservative that started to get heavily used in the last few decades that’s had horrible, unintended consequences.
Additives or preservatives aren’t likely to be the core issue. At the end of the day, by far the most significant factor for weight change is calorie intake vs expenditure. The new drugs like Semaglutide fundamentally work by significantly suppressing hunger and increasing satiety, for instance. I’m not sure what the precise data looks like, but in general, people are less social, go out less, spend a lot more time sitting on their phones or computers, and are generally a bit more stressed. All of the is going to contribute to eating more and moving less.
There’s also a big link between lack of sleep and both obesity and cancer (and dozens of other health problems).
Western society has glorified not getting enough sleep as though it makes you manlier or better in some way. It doesn’t. It just makes you die sooner.
We’ve moved to an “always on” society with the proliferation of the internet. With this comes disrupted circadian rhythms and even more reasons/excuses to not follow a regular or beneficial sleep schedule.
Sugar and refined carbohydrates are two big culprits. Then changing the balance of HDL-cholesterol to LDL-cholesterol changes with weight gain making it all worse and possibly leading to a positive feedback loop. The historic denigration of all fats, good and bad, helped to further tilt the HDL to LDL in the population making lots of people less healthy. It isn’t HFCS, it is the over use of sugar in most of our food. This is especially true in North America, but then we exported much of the same food tech to the rest of the world who did the same.
All that processed food? Full of refined carbs and sugar. Drinks? Often full of sugar. Cheap food? Usually highly processed and refined, so more sugar and refined carbs. You need carbs for energy and fats to keep everything going with balance of nutrients and protein. Any of that out of balance and health suffers. Too little fat can even kill you (rabbit starvation/protein poisoning). The modern diet in North America is terrible because we were told good things were bad and carbs were good. So we ate too little of the good fats, too much of the refined carbs, and too much sugar. Now were here, increased heat disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer.
Pfas and micro plastics cause hormonal issues that can result in weight problems.
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/endocrine/index.cfm
And obesity is only going to increase since all the grocery overlords have jacked the costs of everything through the roof while their prepackaged boxes of sodium and fat mush seem to be the new staple for everyone.
Don’t forget sugar. I’ve recently visited the US and their bread (if you can call it that) could easily be classified as cake where I’m from.
https://globalnews.ca/news/7371355/subway-bread-sugar-ireland/
I stopped eating breads tbh…they are just horrid for you.
I wonder how much of this is actually just the result of better detection and screening processes. Not saying it’s not a problem, but if it’s just because we’re getting better at spotting these things early it might actually be a good thing?
Plastics, PFAS, pesticides, chemicals, radiations, all is contaminated not only what you eat but also what you breath. What a surprise !
Between cancer and Alzheimer’s getting old sucks.
