Oncologists on simple, doable, everyday things they do to try to prevent cancer

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/jul/11/the-experts-oncologists-on-the-simple-doable-everyday-things-they-do-to-try-to-prevent-cancer

by robaato • 2 years ago

65 71 2 years ago

theguardian.com

hsdropout• 2 years ago

1. Don’t smoke

2. Try to maintain a healthy weight

3. Reduce your meat intake

4. Avoid ultra-processed foods

5. Drink less alcohol

6. If you notice anything you are worried about, see a doctor

7. Keep up to date with screenings

8. Get physical

9. Wear sunscreen

10. Manage stress

11. Look into genetic risk

12. When faced with a diagnosis, knowledge is power

13. Don’t fear treatment

14. Talk about it

15. Live life to the full

amelius2• 2 years ago

Is this an ordered list?

Horffupolde• 2 years ago

On some measurement function F.

brookst• 2 years ago

If so, 15 is a really funny lowest priority.

freilanzer• 2 years ago

Does not seem to be the case.

croisillon• 2 years ago

from tangible to abstract maybe

layer83• 2 years ago

Yes, it’s ordered by occurrence in the article.

pharaohgeek2• 2 years ago

Young-ish cancer survivor here. I would add "9a. Don't ever go to a tanning salon" to this list, per my oncologist. There are genetic factors that caused my cancer, so naturally I was worried about recurrence. Her comments to me? "Do you smoke? No? Good. Don't start. Do you visit tanning salons? No? Good. Don't start." The rest falls into "trying to live a moderately healthy lifestyle". Oh, and definitely #6. If something doesn't seem/look/feel right then have a doctor check it out.

Mistletoe2• 2 years ago

Did you get skin cancer?

I’ve often wondered if the higher vitamin D we get from the sun or even tanning beds outweighs the risks from melanoma. Low vitamin D is a big risk factor in the modern world.

https://ajcn.nutrition.org/article/S0002-9165(22)03753-4/

https://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/38/2/1111

Therefore, we rebut these conclusions by addressing the incomplete analysis of the adverse health effects of UV and sunbed exposure (what is ‘safe’?) and the censored representation of beneficial effects, not only but especially from vitamin D production. The stance taken by both agencies is not sufficiently supported by the data and in particular, current scientific knowledge does not support the conclusion sunbed use increases melanoma risk.

jvanderbot2• 2 years ago

Arguably, I think exercise should be #1. EDIT: Assuming they are ordered, otherwise ignore me.

Cancer is about 20% of your chance of death. Intuitively exercise helps with many things on this list. The other (roughly) 25% is cardiovascular/cerebrovascular events. For that, the best thing you can do is exercise. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18264323

Then there's COVID (12), alzheimer + diabetes (6) and a smattering of "other causes" https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db492-tables.pdf#4

For a less trite list with really solid scientific backing, try the book Outlive.

soco• 2 years ago

I would have thought #8 was exactly that, right?

_mlbt• 2 years ago

Also, several types of preventable cancer are caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Get vaccinated for it. Although this virus is primarily associated with cervical cancer, men should be vaccinated for it as well since it can cause penile, oral, anal, and other cancers.

bckr• 2 years ago

And you can give it to your cervix-owning partners.

alexpetralia• 2 years ago

And something about sleep

dxbydt• 2 years ago

I'm not an oncologist. But I'm married to one. So she tells me these rules on an almost daily basis. Also, many of her cancer patients don't make it - and then she tells me - this person didn't make it because he/she broke this rule #xyz in that list.

I mean, ok, I get it. I work in ML in an enterprise. So everyday we have our usual litany of complaints. This item is not ranked correctly. Boosting isn't working on that item. Human overrode the item recommendation and now the faceting is broken. Search is running out of memory. P2 alert!!! program crashed and we are losing $10000 per hour wake up the programmers in the middle of the night...

So I can also play this rule game.

1. Don't use computer.

2. If you must use computer, don't program.

3. If you must program, please let it not be in Java.

4. If it is Java, please don't call Python ML code from it.

5. Better yet, don't use ML at all if you have humans overriding recs.

6. Don't cache everything to reduce latency. You'll run out of memory.

7. If you run out of memory don't wake up the fucking programmer in the middle of the night when he's trying to get some action.

and so on...I mean, what purpose does it serve ? You can't get programmers in 2024 to stop using hadoop and sprintboot and whatever ancient enterprisecrap. You expect to get Americans to eat less meat, drink less, maintain healthy weight ? With an official obesity rate of 39%, the non-cookedup version hovering in the 70s ? Fat chance.

disqard• 2 years ago

Fat chance.

I see what you did there.

valgor2• 2 years ago

I know they are trying to be practical with "reduce meat intake" and "drink less", but meat and alcohol is on par with smoking and they say "don't smoke". I hope we get to a point where we can say "don't eat meat or drink alcohol" just like we say "don't smoke". If the point is to stop cancer from happening, not doing any of those things is huge.

kvgr• 2 years ago

He says that the reporting of nutritional data about cancer can be very confusing, and references the work of the statistician David Spiegelhalter from the University of Cambridge, who has shown that even if everyone ate an extra 50g of bacon every day, that would only increase the incidence of colon cancer from 6% to 7%. “I think it is about having a healthy, balanced diet,” says Sivakumar, “and occasionally having a sweet treat or a steak.”

Def not on par with smoking.

valgor2• 2 years ago

Processed red meat is a class one carcinogen and red meat is a class two. Smoking is a class one. What this means is there is a direct, provable correlation to consuming these products to cancer. Sure, a cigarette may not cause the same level of harm as one steak, but they both cause cancer. So, if you goal is to reduce as far and wide as possible your chances of cancer, meat should be off the plate. The "balance" approach is only to be practical, so I find it odd we never say to have a balanced approach with smoking, but we will with red meat.

ecjhdnc2025• 2 years ago

Indeed -- though reducing seems to have other benefits.

Though as far as is practicable [0], one should not drink alcohol. No amount is safe or good enough for you to offset the other risks.

[0] life is short and not all social offers of a drink should necessarily be turned down, unless you're willing to figuratively or literally show the trappings of "one who must not" (pregnant, alcoholic, religion, training for sports, on medication, etc.)

andsoitis2• 2 years ago

At least the information is out there for anyone to read: no level of alcohol consumption is safe for your health.

- https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-h...

- https://www.who.int/azerbaijan/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level...

There are of course also counter-programming, like "Surprising Ways Alcohol May Be Good for You" (https://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-alcohol-health-benef...).

ourmandave• 2 years ago

The Recommended Glasses of Wine per Week index could be a RNG source.

mylastattempt2• 2 years ago

Opposing information from mayoclinic with a link to a webmd post (i refuse to even call it an article), with zero actual scientific information in it, reduces the value of your comment. Which, otherwise, I fully agree with. There is no "although" here. Alcohol is bad for your health. That doesn't mean you should or should not drink X amount, that is anyone's free choice. But we don't live in the Dark Ages where it was suposedly good for you (...only compared to the alternative being bacteria ridden waste water).

taylodl• 2 years ago

Cancer isn't the only disease you're trying to prevent. Your approach that single-mindedly reduces your risk of cancer may very well increase your risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes - both diseases which are far more prevalent in the general population.

A diet rich in proteins provided by grilled chicken breast and salmon, and low in simple carbs such as sugar, pasta, and rice, will dramatically reduce your risks for the most prevalent diseases and not increase your risk of cancer.

You need to take a moderate and wholistic view of health.

treprinum4• 2 years ago

Once you get hit by an autoimmune disease your stance will turn into "eat only meat" quickly.

Unbefleckt• 2 years ago

Meat isn't on par with alcohol and tobacco.

4ad3• 2 years ago

If you notice anything you are worried about, see a doctor.

Yeah, good luck with that. I've had several relatives who all eventually died of cancer who tried to get their symptoms checked for years only to get bullshit answers like "it's only stress" or false, or incomplete diagnostics.

Personally I have a quite severe back pain issue and I have not managed to find a doctor to send me for an MRI for over 12 years now.

vidarh• 2 years ago

In the UK at least, the main difficulty in getting referrals for MRIs is that the evidence for their efficacy at improving outcomes is low enough that unless there are other indicators you're usually referred for physiotherapy first.

But at the same time for those willing to go private you can get a same day MRI for down to a few hundred pounds many places.

soared• 2 years ago

In the US I tore my hamstring very badly. Insurance did not approve an MRI under the reasoning “We know it’s torn, an MRI does not provide actionable information”. Therefore the decision to do surgery or not, and all of my treatment options were barely informed at all.

imjonse• 2 years ago

TIL that 40% of cancers are preventable.

patates• 2 years ago

Not opposing or anything but how do you even measure that? Really asking to see if anyone knows / has an idea.

3D30497420• 2 years ago

I don't know off-hand, but probably a longitudinal survey of cases and pretty rough estimates. It is probably made a bit easier by there being some big chunks which are (likely) more clearly attributable to behavioral choices: smoking-related, sun exposure, and probably some occupational (chemical exposure, etc.).

LordKeren2• 2 years ago

It’s pretty straight forward— you compare the average risk for individuals to the rates for those exposed to carcinogens. For instance, if a population of people develops lung cancer at a rate of 2% by age 70, and a population of smokers has a rate of 10% by age 70– the difference between the base line and the exposed populations becomes the “preventable” count.

readthenotes1• 2 years ago

Which reduces your risk from roughly .5% down to .3% by age 49.

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/a...

Kalanos6• 2 years ago

Why is the advice "Try to maintain a healthy weight?" Just maintain it. Sure, some people are genetically predisposed to obesity, but we should stop coddling the rest. Obesity puts you at 300% risk for cancer and several other lethal diseases. A great place to start is by not spending money on drinks that contain sugar and carbs - drink water. The recipe for healthy weight is 85% diet (less carbs) and 15% exercise (elevated heart rate).

Check out the books: Cancer Code, Obesity Code, Diabetes Code

ajross• 2 years ago

Your point is what, that behavioral disorders aren't disorders? Do you give the same advice to addiction patients or anxiety or OCD sufferers? Some people have an easier time controlling some behaviors that some other people, and that fact is important where it intersects with health and worthy of consideration as a "medical" condition worthy of treatment, and not knee-jerk judgement on HN.

Surely you personally are a skinny guy whose never had trouble with weight. Equally surely there's some behavioral quirk you have that you'd like to change but have struggled with. So... maybe hold off on the "just do it" framing?

Kalanos6• 2 years ago

Notice that everything else is phrased as "Don't smoke." It's tiptoeing around obesity

infecto2• 2 years ago

Why do you think anyone is coddling when saying "Try to maintain a healthy weight". Its also not about carbs but calories.

Kalanos6• 2 years ago

Everything else is phrased affirmatively, but it tiptoes around obesity with "try"

Not all calories are created equal: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/carbs-cal....

LordKeren2• 2 years ago

“The solution to this problem is just don’t have this problem”

Kalanos6• 2 years ago

Be an adult, take care of yourself.

5423542342352• 2 years ago

Depressed? Just stop being sad.

but we should stop coddling the rest

While it is comforting to fall back on reductive and overly simplistic answers that simply blame the individual for not having the willpower to "just maintain" a healthy weight, the reality is a bit more complicated. The intersection of education, food availability, economics, genetics, mental health, etc. all play a factor.

Kalanos6• 2 years ago

Notice that everything else is phrased as "Don't smoke." It's tiptoeing around obesity

Ekaros• 2 years ago

Also stop being poor. Just earn more and spend less. Then spend the money you earned and saved to improve living conditions so you have less risks. It is very simple and no one should have any trouble with it. /s

Kalanos6• 2 years ago

woah woah woah. can you please phrase that as "try to earn more and try to spend less" we don't want to offend anyone here

Oncologists on simple, doable, everyday things they do to try to prevent cancer

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