i'm putting this in n&d because i can only imagine what will happen to it in GD.

why do americans get this at such a high rate? am i wrong -- are people in all civilizations across the world getting cancer? is it the way we live? is it something we do in our day-to-day actions that causes us to get cancer? if i live in nyc for 3 years, does that increase my chances of getting cancer? is it the foods we eat?

if anybody has answers...please...it's been something that's been on my mind for a few months but just came to a head...

Smoking, alcohol, and awful eating habits?

which delivers cancer at a higher rate?... weed or smokes?... is it even close?

beyond that. let's say you've always been a normal, healthy human that hasn't abused drugs, alcohol or food.

there's a thread somewhere in here about a study that says there's no link between weed smoking and cancer.

honestly, dont worry about it... you cant stop it, ya know... if it happens, it happens... if youre living a relatively clean life, then it's really not in your hands

Tobacco by a country mile.

i sincerely hope you are correct... i quit the cancer sticks over a year ago, but i think i smoke a lot more weed due to it

I think there are two major factors working:

1.) Our superior medical technology allows us to more accurately diagnose cancer better than the rest of the world. Many deaths that are would have been attributed to "natural causes" are caused by tiny cancers only detectable by cutting edge devices here in the US. So our rates are probably higher because they are more accurate.

2.) Lack of exercise. Lack of exercise leads to stress and inflammation of the immune system. When this happens, the body cannot repair itself correctly and makes cancer more likely. Many studies have shown excess fat tissue is a major source of carcogenic cells.

It's also possible that our medical advances have allowed people with genetic predispositions to cancer to reproduce where in the past they wouldn't have been able to. In saving the lives of people with cancer related genetic defects we allow the problem to be passed on to any offspring they may have.

I believe that most cancer will be eliminated within our lifetimes. Cancer is most often caused by cells that are unable to repair genetic damage. The failure to repair is related to the conditions of the telomeres in the cells. Through a combination of genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and egg/sperm selection, society can create children who will have dramatically reduced chances of cancer and respond better to existing cancer therapies.

Well, one factor is that more people are living longer lives. The more people who don't die off young there are, the more cancer you will have in the populace. However, I have read that this alone fails to account for the steep rise in cancers. I think that some of our modern conveniences might tend to give us cancer. Someone I love says that they are honestly convinced that trace levels of pesticides in the food we eat, when consumed over decades, contributes to--and possibly accounts for much of--the overall rise in cancer.

what's the deal with cancer?

I was reading an article on skin cancer that said the reported rates may have gone up in part to more people going to the Dr for checkups, therefore a lot of small un-symptomatic cancers that people could have very well lived out the rest of their lives with without at trouble get diagnosed and treated. I'm sure it goes beyond skin cancer. We do go to the doctor more here, i think.

When my grandmother was diagnosed with stomach cancer, the doctors said she was probably carrying around those tumors for decades before they began to cause trouble.

that's what i was thinking

I agree with this. It's like the amount of wounded soldiers in the civil war vs. wounded soldiers in the Iraq war. If you were wounded then, you died. If you're wounded now, you lose a limb. They can't detect cancer as well in some other societies, so we seem to have a disproportionate amound of cases, when it's really just our detection ability. Seems very possible to me.

A shitload of women on Long Island end up getting breast cancer of some kind. It's like 50%. I think it has something to do with the power lines or nuclear shit or something. Anyway, if you're a woman don't move to LI

You're going to die in one way or another. Advances in medicine, through vaccinations and public health campaigns, means the 1st world countries will have lower fatalities from the likes of AIDS and water-borne diseases like malaria.

The longer you live, the more chance you have of getting one form of illness or another. You can find all the cures to all the diseases, but you're still going to have to die from something.

jesus H my hpoaaf, instead of moderator under your name, you should change it to "downer"

Eternal life would be really shit, like when you're 579 year old and there's these hot young 16 year olds teasing you with their tiny tops, and you can't do anything about it, not ever.

So I don't see how saying "you're gonna die" is a downer.

I don't think this is true unless you men death by unnatural causes. I think it's possible to repair/rejuvinate cells in the body. Cancer itself demostrates that cells have the power to reproduce rapidly with small genetic changes... if we could harness this behavior we replace organ tissue as it wears out.

Something in biochemistry tells our bodies to age. Some trigger. It will be found, it's only a matter time.

More reading:

http://www.sens.org/