Is cancer as prevalent as it was prehistorically?

[Drakkith]

Well, I'm working under the assumption that I will have cancer. Since 10 mg of 1:1 CBD : THC is pretty cheap and has other health benefits, like reduction in anxiety and such issues with mood, I think it might be something I could incorporate into my lifestyle.

Forgive me, but it is my opinion that you're making a large number of mistakes when it comes to understanding medical science and healthcare. Not only is there no magic bullet to cure or prevent cancer, there aren't even any known substances that have an unambiguous effect on cancer rates except those that increase them. Finding a couple of random papers that say that chemical X shows anti-cancer properties is meaningless and can fool you into believing something that isn't true. The human body is enormously complex and the long term effect of most substances on the body is unknown and extremely difficult to figure out. Without this understanding, you're just as likely to hurt yourself in the long run as you are to help.

Furthermore, I recently read that people who tend to score higher on the happiness index tend to have more anandamide floating around in their brains. No harm in increasing that, within certain bounds obviously.

There certainly could be. Unless a doctor tells you to take something to increase your anandamide levels, I would simply avoid it. Taking health advice from anyone but a qualified medical professional is far more likely to do you harm than good.

 

[Question_]

Forgive me, but it is my opinion that you're making a large number of mistakes when it comes to understanding medical science and healthcare. Not only is there no magic bullet to cure or prevent cancer, there aren't even any known substances that have an unambiguous effect on cancer rates except those that increase them. Finding a couple of random papers that say that chemical X shows anti-cancer properties is meaningless and can fool you into believing something that isn't true. The human body is enormously complex and the long term effect of most substances on the body is unknown and extremely difficult to figure out. Without this understanding, you're just as likely to hurt yourself in the long run as you are to help.

I agree and understand. I never considered using any of the above compounds to prevent cancer in myself based on anecdotal studies. I apologize if I gave that impression as it seems somewhat dangerous and irresponsible.

There certainly could be. Unless a doctor tells you to take something to increase your anandamide levels, I would simply avoid it. Taking health advice from anyone but a qualified medical professional is far more likely to do you harm than good.

Indeed. Thanks!

 

[Ygggdrasil]

Will have to consider getting a 'generic' preparation of said product due to my neurotic obsession with cancer prevention as of late.

Although most of it is basic, common sense, here is a good resource on cancer prevention: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/can-cancer-be-prevented

How many cancers could be prevented?
In the UK, more than 1 in 2 people will develop cancer at some point in their lives. Every year, more than 350,000 people are diagnosed with the disease. But experts estimate that more than 4 in 10 cancer cases could be prevented, largely through lifestyle changes, such as:

not smoking

keeping a healthy bodyweight

eating a healthy, balanced diet

cutting back on alcohol

enjoying the sun safely

keeping active

doing what you can to avoid certain infections (such as HPV or hepatitis)

being safe at work (see cancer risks in the workplace)

Surveys have shown that people aren’t necessarily aware that all of these things are linked to cancer. For example, studies have found that 15 in 20 people don’t know obesity causes cancer, and 18 in 20 people aren’t aware of the link between alcohol and cancer.

Visit the site and read the linked pages for more detailed information and explanations.

 

[Cryston Waston]

Nowadays one of the major cause of cancer is plastic, that can pose numerous health risks, including the risk of cancer.

 

[Ygggdrasil]

one of the major cause of cancer is plastic

Citation needed. Most reputable sources would dispute this claim. For example:

What does the evidence show about plastic and cancer?
People have claimed chemicals inside plastics leach into food or drink causing cancer. In particular there have been concerns about Bisphenol A (BPA) and dioxins in plastic bottles or plastic containers.

But there is no convincing evidence to show using plastic bottles or plastic containers increases the risk of cancer.

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/ab...-controversies/plastic-bottles-and-cling-film

 

[pinball1970]

By comparison, do you think caveman 'Bob' would have lived with the same chances of contracting cancer as modern day 'Bob'?

I read this somewhere and found this link about evidence regarding ancient species and tumours

http://www.nature.com/news/1998/031020/full/news031020-2.html

Rothschild, B. M. , Tanke, D. H. , Helbling, M. II & Martin, L.D. . Epidemiologic study of tumors in dinosaurs. Naturwissenschaften, published online, doi:10.1007/s00114-003-0473-9 (2003).

Also a little closer to home, I remember this from studying Art history in the 80s

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4839543/

Tumours /malignancies would not have been diagnosed correctly until fairly recently or as above retrospectively.

Also as has been pointed out peoples not so long ago did not live long enough to develop what is essentially a disease of the aged.

Life expectancy 2000 years ago would have been around 30 possibly?

 

[Drakkith]

Tumours /malignancies would not have been diagnosed correctly until fairly recently or as above retrospectively.

Especially with the various taboos that were in place until relatively recently against opening up corpses and digging around in them to figure out what killed them.

Life expectancy 2000 years ago would have been around 30 possibly?

If you remove all those who died within their first decade of life, the life expectancy rises to 50-60 I believe. I don't have a citation for this at the moment, but I know I've read about it before.

 

[jim mcnamara]

Humans have a type 1 survivorship curve - meaning that infant mortality (generally defined as age 5 or less) decreases the average age at death, also known as life expectancy, drastically. This curve is not applicable in times of major plagues, like the bubonic plague in Europe in the 1300's, or smallpox in Mesoamerica in the wake of the Spanish conquest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_curve