cross-posted from: https://lemmit.online/post/3567461
Younger generations are facing a higher risk of cancer than their parents. Each successive generation born during the second half of the 20th century has faced a higher risk of 17 cancers, accordi…
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The original was posted on /r/science by /u/mvea on 2024-08-01 06:59:55+00:00.
Original Title: Younger generations are facing a higher risk of cancer than their parents. Each successive generation born during the second half of the 20th century has faced a higher risk of 17 cancers, according to a US study. 10 of these cancers are linked to obesity.
I’m certain pollutants like microplastics and PFAS are contributing to increased cancer rates, but how much impact comes from better testing and longer lifespans leading to increased diagnosis of cancers that would otherwise be missed?
life expectancy is decreasing in the US.
also, is dying from cancer really something that got frequently interpreted as something else a generation ago? this isn’t like neurodivergence. your body filled up with tumors and you stop eating, nobody in the 70s was like, “must have been an accident.”
I think the argument is more that longer lifespans allow for cancer to develop, but I don’t think you can say a given 80 year old is more likely to die of cancer than a heart attack or car accident so I don’t know that it would artificially inflate the cancer numbers anyway
