To think the PoW’s diagnosis makes healthy living seem pointless?

[Notsuretoputit]

I try my best to live heathily (although definitely not fanatical). I try and stay away from ultra processed foods, try and avoid saturated fat, too much meat etc., try and exercise every week. I’ll have the odd takeaway and definitely overindulge on wine, but always try and be mindful of living heathily because so much information is constantly battering me through the radio, media etc. about getting ill from various foods and not exercising.

I’ve recently lost my mother far too young too, so I suppose it’s particularly on my mind at the moment. But then you hear Kate’s diagnosis, who obviously exercises regularly, has the best instructors, best food, best ingredients, best preparation, and she still falls ill, and it all seems a bit pointless.

AIBU to feel this way? I just wonder whether I really should make an effort to watch what I eat and run when I don’t feel like it if really, what will be will be regardless.

Smoked meats?

Look there’s no promises in this life about how long you get to live … I always thought that about Linda McCartney and all her healthy meals! Yes you can try and follow expert advice on what’s preferable for a healthy body but at the end of the day if your numbers up that’s it.

Why shouldn’t smoked salmon be eaten regularly by people with heart issues? Would be interested in the source of this, if you have it, please?

Smoked Salmon: How It Can Benefit Your Overall Health (webmd.com)

Cons of Smoked Salmon

Smoked salmon is high in sodium. A 100-gram serving has 672 milligrams of sodium. The same amount of fresh salmon has only 75 milligrams.
Eating too much sodium can significantly raise your risk of stroke and heart disease. According to the World Health Organization, you should try to limit your sodium intake to 2,000 milligrams per day. The American Heart Association suggests an even more modest limit of 1,500 milligrams per day.

It’s especially important not to eat too much smoked salmon if you have a cardiovascular condition.

I thought PoW meant prisoner of war! Doesn’t everyone know somebody who lived a healthy lifestyle but still got cancer or heart disease or alzheimers? I don’t understand why it happening to someone in the royal family makes it more relevant!

But to answer your actual question, yes a lot of medical issues are genetic and can’t be prevented by exercise and a healthy diet but I don’t see the sense in you giving those up because it could help and it’s certainly not going to do you any harm.

Smoking food, including fish ie salmon, results in high levels of nitrates and nitrites ie salts in the food.
High levels of salt in our diet is widely publicised to have a negative impact on our heart health.

Forgot the Source, however
Tbh I assume anyone with heart issues would know to keep away from salt.
You could try nhs or British heart foundation websites I suppose.

They probably would - I’d imagine it’s knowing smoked salmon is high in salt that’s lesser known. I don’t have heart issues. I am worried about developing them.

I think Kate lives very responsable and healthily, but some diseases can still creep up on a person. Now, honestly, I'm sure she will be fine. I think she had her womb taken out (maybe because of super heavy periods and pain etc.), that's indeed a big procedure and 2 weeks in the hospital. A friend had that and I took care of her after, so know a bit about it. And yes, it takes a long time to get better, because they have to cut your abdominal muscles and you simply can't move without pain before those are healed again. And then another friend had another gynecological procedure and was offered "preventive chemotherapy", just to be sure. I was her chemo-driver, so oh yes, I know. She too is doing great, all healed, no trace of cancer. So yes, I think Kate will be fine. She's going to have a few rough months, and then she will slowly start to re-emerge. Her healthy living will help her conquer this!

“How bizarre”?? How mean. I think it’s a reasonable question. When my friend got breast cancer after a life of being a health conscious fitness instructor who won’t even use non-organic cleaning products, she asked the same thing.

Exactly!

Being healthy is a good thing and anyone can get cancer. It's good you are staying fit and healthy

Breast cancer can have a genetic basis. If you have the BRCA1 gene, then you have an increased chance of breast cancer,regardless of how healthy your lifestyle is

A woman’s lifetime risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer is markedly increased if she inherits a harmful variant in BRCA1 or BRCA2, but the degree of increase varies depending on the mutation.
Breast cancer: About 13% of women in the general population will develop breast cancer sometime during their lives (1). By contrast, 55%–72% of women who inherit a harmful BRCA1 variant and 45%–69% of women who inherit a harmful BRCA2 variant will develop breast cancer by 70–80 years of age (2–4). The risk for any one woman depends on a number of factors, some of which have not been fully characterized

BRCA Gene Mutations: Cancer Risk and Genetic Testing Fact Sheet - NCI

Linda was always the one that surprised me. Vegetarian, slim, outdoorsy yet gone in her fifties. Still shocks me all these years later that she went so relatively young.

Duck?

One in two people will have some form of cancer in their lifetime

the odds are against us

it a lottery

Linda McCartney smoked I think.

Healthier living didn't prevent my DH from developing cancer - the cause was genetic - but because he is pretty robust and was willing to put the work into improving his fitness levels before surgery they were able to throw the kitchen sink at him and the cancer has now gone.

Cancer treatment is hard on the body and doctors are rightly reluctant to do things they think have a good chance of killing you before the cancer does. Eat vegetables. Keep active. Looking after yourself pays off.

I know / knew plenty of people who lived into their 90s. Smoking, drinking, grew up in poverty

Haven’t RTFT but I think you might be looking at it the wrong way - the healthy lifestyle we assume the Princess of Wales lives may not have prevented her getting cancer, but her access to the very best medical care, which indicates it was found early, as well as her general health, look likely to increase her odds of surviving it, whatever “it” is.

I think it’s understandable someone who leads a healthy life would understandably be questioning….but why!

As an aside so many things can increase your chances of breast cancer that might be little understood or overlooked
eg. Hormone therapy
birth control pills
not breastfeeding
high oestrogen levels
and many more

Some of these we cannot control or avoid.

It’s not always about lifestyle and it’s also not always about genetics. I don’t know about the ancestry of PoW but her parent must be in their 70s and appear very healthy. I honestly think that sometimes it is random and entirely bad luck. I am gutted for the princess, I also have 3 children and can’t imagine getting such a diagnosis although my eldest is now 16. George is only 10:(

By genetics I don’t take it to mean that it’s always hereditary . Maybe it’s just a gene which has mutated the wrong way for no particular reason. Like a random thing. So it’s in your genes but not a hereditary issue

I almost wonder if lifestyle is relevant in this debate. If we were living a ‘natural’ lifestyle us women would mostly be either pregnant/breastfeeding from teens to early 40s. It isn’t desirable or preferable to be living a natural lifestyle nowadays.

Her mother died of breast cancer.
As an aside, she was 34 when she became a vegetarian. Not life long, if that’s relevant