to think people who think cancer is caused by lifestyle choices are ignorant?

I’m so sorry to hear that. How were you exposed to asbestos? I know nurses and teachers are at greater risk due to it being so prevalent in hospitals and schools.

I can't stand people like that.

They're the same people who argue you can replace medication with going to the gym and cutting XYZ out of your diet. Ahrgh!

Sometimes I look at the statistics for cancer (particularly '1 in 2') and think 'why bother?' Sometimes it just feels like there's nothing you can do and if you're going to get it, you'll get it. So no, I don't think most cases are lifestyle-related.

My 20 odd year old younger cousin died of a cancer that runs in our family. They weren't to blame for that.

The majority of cancer (I think it’s about 80% according to statistics) is caused by environmental and lifestyle factors.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that a healthy person who develops cancer has been living the wrong lifestyle, but we live in an environment now where there are additional factors which are bad for our health.

The amount of pollution because of the increasing number of cars, the amount of medications etc in our water systems, the amount of additives and preservatives in food. All of those contribute to illnesses.

So while someone might not be obese or smoke and drink to excess, they are almost certainly being exposed to factors which have led to them developing cancer and other illnesses.

We need as a society to acknowledge that, in order for individuals not to fall victim to these kinds of illnesses.

Not all are but some are. It's insensitive though.

some is genetic. Some is environmental. most need a combination of both, but plenty just one or the other. And quite a big number are entirely to do with aging

I have Mesothelioma. I was diagnosed with mesothelioma at 23 caused by asbestos exposure.

I was one of the youngest on record at the time to have it. Sadly more and more my age are being diagnosed. It's shit.

But did the colleague say “All cancers are caused by lifestyle choices” or something closer to “Some lifestyle choices lead to a higher incidence of cancer at population level” or even “I don’t smoke, in an effort to minimize by own risk of cancer”

I haven't voted, as your title question is different from what you put in your OP.

I'd say walking around thinking there is no correlation between any sorts of cancer and different lifestyles is ignorant if anything.
Though, clearly, there are a lot of people that do contract cancer where there is no known contributing factors.
The use of the word "always" in your opening post - if that is what anyone has actually said - would make anyone who thought that, wrong, but equally as wrong is anyone saying no cancers have anything to do with lifestyle.

I know a nurse who thinks this way. Years ago my neighbour was diagnosed with lung cancer and when I told her she done a head tilt and said "aww she was a smoker then" when I said she wasn't she suggested others in the house must have been smokers, they weren't. So she mused that she must have worked or socialised with smokers and her cancer was down to second hand smoke.

Her cousin had a mini stroke and she suggested it would have been "because he drinks". More recently her DH had a mini stoke too and she could not believe it, kept telling me she didn't understand how that could have happened to him because they don't drink or smoke, she was really struggling to get her head around it.

Cancers are generally caused by life style factors and genetics

I really don't understand why people are giving so many anecdotes....it's not really a conundrum or anything.

Some cancers are caused by or influenced by lifestyle choices and/or environmental factors.
Some are not.

It's not that hard.

Yes, as shown by Olivia Newton John, a healthy, sporty, fit, 44 year old who did nothing to cause her breast cancer.

I think generally the younger you are when it strikes the more aggressive it is. Old people can go on for years with it. More men die with prostate cancer than die of it.

I have no medical training, but from what I’ve observed among people I know, breast cancer can hit anyone. Family history obviously increases risk, but it can be so random too-one of my Mum’s friends died at 49, the only person in her family who suffered from it. ☹️

There’s a lot of turbo cancers around in younger people.

2,540 excess deaths (14,024 total deaths) in the week ending 21 April 2023.

22.1% above the 5 year average for the equivalent week in previous years.

Quite worrying.

My SIL has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She is mid 50s, slim, fit, sporty, hardly drinks, eats healthily, doesn't smoke, generally looks after herself. She did have her first child late though so obviously it's all her fault! (Not).

@Alwaysdoingsomethingwrong Yes, and sone people are weird about taking medication, even though it would help immensely! I’ve got an under active thyroid and one pill a day makes a dramatic difference-so why not take it?
But I know people who won’t take one paracetamol for a splitting headache.😂

Is your friend my friend? They had a thyroid issue, were adamant it was fixable with diet and supplements and ended up in hospital due to a thyroid storm.

Some people are idiots.

I have a friend who thinks that everything is down to lifestyle/diet.
When I was diagnosed with an under-active thyroid she was convinced it was because I was eating the wrong things and if I ate the right things I wouldn't need any medication.

I think for a lot of people that spout the BS that your colleague does, it is a form of health anxiety. They have a fear of it and want to believe that they have protected themselves.

It is incredibly tone deaf though. Most of us will probably know someone that has cancer at the moment, someone that has died from cancer and someone that has has had cancer in the past. As you get older (I'm early 40s) that list keeps growing. My SIL first got cancer in her 30s and died a few years ago. Not lifestyle related.

I think I read that one third of cancers are related to lifestyle so it's not true to say cancers aren't related to lifestyle - some are.
But if course the majority of cancers aren't. Could be a genetic component. I've had cancer and was told it was just bad luck. They could find no reason for it.

The problem with your colleague is she uses the term ALWAYS. It’s not the case . Some people smoke, drink, eat way too much and may never get it . Some people never smoke, drink , etc and still get it . It’s also in your DNA. It really is a game of pot luck , although it’s obviously in everyone’s best interests to try to do the “right” thing. Her way of thinking is offensive. I’d tell her to shut it .

This !