To think cancer is rising exponentially in under 55s?

[Peverellshire]

Anecdotes not data, but:

1. Kidney cancer that’s spread - friend - fit, well, 52, diagnosed after routine check for something else. Spread to other organs, no symptoms
2. Triathlete colleague, 52 years. Stomach/ bowel cancer, spread. Diagnosed after, a sudden, violent, stomach upset. Stage 4.
3. Colleague / stage 4 bowel cancer, aged 47, no real symptoms.

Numerous other acquaintances in 50-55 bracket.

Should we have ‘preventative’ MRIs?
To be expected in 50s as old/older?
Does it reflect your experience?

I think the number one contributory factor in increasing cases of cancers is our diets. Processed food is so pervasive in our diets, did I hear that in the UK around 50% of all of our kids food comes from processed sources? This means additives, preservatives, emulsifiers etc, ingredients that our bodies don't know what to do with. It's literally changing our cell structures. We all need to try and get back to basics and start questioning the ingredients list, make more from scratch, eat more simply. Hard I know when everything that is bad for us is so readily available and in lots of cases, quite cheap.

Regarding our diets, the ‘what’s for dinner’ threads give a good indication as to the problem. People listing their menus for the week and every single meal centres on meat, usually red meat. Also a lot of sauces and rich ingredients. People don’t want to eat simply and cleanly now, they see it as their right to eat rich meals every evening and balk if you suggest it’s fine to just have scrambled egg on toast, or jacket potato. The public also seem to have gone off fish, which is a shame as it’s very good for you if eaten correctly and a great alternative to red meat.

Oh and house cleaning. It’s not enough just to hoover/dust/tidy any more- everyone nukes the shit out of everything with Zoflora and pumps the house full of chemical air fresheners. Hot soapy water is perfectly fine to clean everything bar the toilet, we don’t need to antibac every surface.

To think cancer is rising exponentially in under 55s?
This is about data, and very specific in its application to significant numbers.

Anecdotes not data, but
This is stuff you know about three people.

So not of any relevance in terms of health care.

Fish, which is cleanest and best?

Yes. I've known my neighbour for many years. We were talking about this. He is sort of semi-retired part-time GP but is now working much more as there is a severe shortage where I live. He has noticed a "cancer explosion" of aggressive cancers particularly among younger people in the last 2 years - young, fit and under 50

I agree about the use of the word exponentially - people don't seem to understand what it means. Absolutely not is cancer in this age group rising "exponentially".

The question the OP is asking is "is cancer in this age range rising?".

And the answer to that is probably not, but when the statistics for this time become available, ie, probably next year, then we will have a definite answer, but there is no evidence of it given on this thread.

Virtually all of it unless processed into something like fish fingers. Fish are caught from the wild, we don’t rear them for slaughter on a diet of pesticide grass and antibiotics. We eat a portion of salmon every week, meat twice a week (one chicken then usually mince), and 4 veggie days.

I heard a few years ago that if you survive your 50s then you normally go on to live much longer.
50s are the death decade. You either get through them or you don’t.

I don't think this is borne out by the statistics. The chance of dying rises with age. It's higher in your 60s than in your 50s.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1125118/death-rate-united-kingdom-uk-by-age/

Cancer wasn't rare in people's mother's generations. I've been a doctor for decades and have seen plenty of cancer in younger people over the decades. However, people died more quickly, often without clear confirmed diagnoses as scans were less effective (or non existent. MRIs did not exist in normal hospitals when I started and CT scanners were new) and there was a lot more shame / privacy associated with it.
We are seeing more bowel cancer younger and I'm not that surprised given how little fruit and vegetables so many of our young patients eat. There's a clear link between bowel cancer and diet - although obviously there are always exceptions and plenty of people get it all have great diets as well.
We are seeing a generalised increase but it's certainly not exponential. The majority is still in the elderly. I work in a deprived area so still see plenty of heart disease and COPD killing people but much less than I used to - people have to die of something and it's much more likely nowadays that that will be cancer, just because we're better at curing other things.
But cancer itself has a much higher survival than it used to (most types. There are still really bad ones to get.)
Apart from bowel cancer, I don't think we're seeing a significant increase in most cancers in younger people. I think it's more that people feel more invulnerable than they used to and there's more of a shock value when they're diagnosed.

I could be wrong but I don't think it's been banned in the UK, just the EU.
It's being considered for another 5 years on the UK, I think.

This is interesting.

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/09/researchers-report-dramatic-rise-in-early-onset-cancers/

Sorry for hopeless pic from DM but yes, as someone unthread said, it has been reported recently that it is rising in younger adults.

Lifestyle is a massive component - many scientific papers on this.

I personally think that it's diet/upf related with not only the effects on weight but also on the micro biome and stuff we don't know much about yet - basically the consumption of all the additives over periods of years.

I can remember reading somewhere many years ago that even with Ca lung, middle class smokers were less likely to get Ca lung than lower class smokers - unless this is related to other factors (possibly pollution/toxins in home environment/exposure to mould?), I would hazard that this is also diet related.

It feels personally ‘exponential’ in that suddenly, poss 30 cases in my orbit in 50 somethings…but get an unhelpful headline. If there is any massive spike it will be reflected in data, soon.

I used to work in Insurance in New Business. Anyone in their 50s was considered a high risk. There are various statistics out there I believe that say that various 'conditions' that hide in our bodies from birth or childhood will be resisted until we reach our 50s then things start to fall apart.

It's a salutory lesson to us all I think. We tend to abuse our bodies when we're young and we think we've got away with it because there don't seem to be any consequences but our bodies can only fight all the bad stuff for so long then the organs etc start to suffer.

I know that doesn't sound very scientific - I don't have a medical background or anything - I just remember the risk factors I used to have to use. Many embolisms, strokes, heart attacks etc happen to 50 somethings.

a "massive spike" still isn't "exponential"

There seems to have been a trend towards higher fat diets over recent decades (Atkins diet, Banting diet, keto, low carb etc), and I do worry that high levels of fat consumption will increase levels of bowel cancer and may be driving them up already.

I read this as ‘under 5’s’ and felt pure terror for my children.

It means, without looking up, an unprecedented, huge growth in number/s, that’s what I was trying to get across. Poss not what it means, off to google & learn.

Semantics aside, Harvard article is v interesting PP, sleep is something many overlook, IME, and lack thereof, being harmful.

sleep is crucial to health, absolutely

As a severe insomniac, this has also brightened my day

Yes. And indeed protein. Eating piles of red/processed meat is never going to be a great diet.

I don't think it's overlooked. Many people lie awake at night worrying about how little sleep they are getting.

That’s a really good point.