Gen X has higher cancer rates than their baby boomer parents

[Tennessee Hillbilly]

Source: Science News

Per capita, Gen X (born from 1965 through 1980) is getting cancer more often than their parents’ and grandparents’ generations, researchers report June 10 in JAMA Network Open.

The forecast doesn’t look good for Gen Xers, who are starting to reach ages when cancers most often appear, say Philip Rosenberg, a biostatistician at U.S. National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Md. If the trend continues, millennials (born from 1981 to 1996) and younger generations might also experience more cancer, Rosenberg and his NCI colleague Adalberto Miranda-Filho warn.

Many of the cancers on the rise among Gen Xers are linked to obesity, lack of exercise, eating too much red meat and other lifestyle factors. But changing that is not easy, Joshu says. “The healthy choices are not the easy choices to make in our society.”


Read more: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/gen-x-more-cancers-baby-boomer-parents

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You can find many more details at the link.

[Warpy]

1. Not surprising, the worse we faced as children were radium watch dials

and DDT. Gen X is the first generation to have grown up in the whole chemical soup of plastics, food additives, and a huge range of pesticides, fungicides, and flame retardants. Some of those things are likely benign but we have no real idea what the whole chemical laden environment adds up to. We might be about to find out.

[EllieBC]

2. Hasn't increased screening and early diagnosis

also at play here? Gen X grew up learning about self exams.

[Tennessee Hillbilly]

5. Yes, the article mentions this:

Quote:
"Some of the increase may be due to better screening and early detection, Joshu says. “Sometimes that’s hard to say how much of this is related to changes in detection and changes in just clinical awareness to look for something, versus a true increase."

So the article says "some of the increase". Evidently the researchers are aware of this complication but still believe that the overall situation has gotten worse.

....
On another matter, I would like to add that the older generations grew up in the era of leaded gasoline and gas-guzzling smoky-exhaust vehicles. So there has been some improvement in that area.

[doc03]

3. I think it will be far worse for the current generation whatever it is called. I think we will find vaping is worse than

cigarettes and with the obesity diabetes is going to increase.

[Marthe48]

4. My kids are in the age group

their spouses, all of their friends. I hope that healthy eating, exercise, healthy habits offset other factors.
My kids might have inherited Lynch Syndrome genes from their Dad's side. I hope they are safe, only time will tell.

[IbogaProject]

6. Radiation increase

Longer preconception for he mothers of Gen X and more radiation exposure surely plays a factor.

[Bucky]

8. My guess would include more processed foods, presevatives

We're getting fatter cause of our diets and we exercise less. There's a variety of environmental factors that could be behind this.

[Aristus]

10. That was thrown into sharp relief the other day when I visited with a rail-thin Vietnamese gentleman

who was accompanied by his 300-lb American-born grandson.

[Bucky]

11. Vegetables. Love 'em... or else

[Greybnk48]

7. When my first baby was born in 1971, we were already using

aluminum as well as teflon coated pans, Johnson and Johnson baby talc powder, disposable diapers, plastic baby bottles, plastic milk bottles, scotch guard on wall to wall carpeting, processed meats, boxed cereals, lower quality eggs than I had as a kid, dryer sheets, i could go on and on.

She was found to have polycystic ovarian disease in he late 20's and had to use IVF to conceive her only child. We were grateful she could have a baby at all. She was later diagnosed with MS in her mid-40's. She was doing ok with the MS, when she was diagnosed a little over 2 years ago with an aggressive uterine cancer. She died nine months after her diagnosis as the cancer had spread to her brain and elsewhere.

It will be two years the 27th of June and I think about all of the chemicals and carcinogens that we were told were perfectly safe, best for the baby, wholesome, cleaner than cotton, on and on. Knowing what I know now about how awful many of the things I exposed her to were and are just tortures me. It tortured her too, worrying what would hurt or affect her son. He is almost 16. She died 4 days after his 14th birthday.

Bottom line: I call bullshit to the "heathy choices" lie. Everything is full of hormone disrupters, carcinogens, and type 2 diabetes generators. Just for example, read a recent article about emulsifiers and ice cream. Our food is poison, among other things.

[limbicnuminousity]

9. Pretty much.

Healthy/unhealthy choices and improved screening/diagnostics don't account for the 500% increase in colon cancer in children ages 10-14 that's occurred in the last 25 years. Cancer rates are going up across the board in the under 50 crowd.

A recent report indicates that Indonesians currently consume 15 grams of micro/nano-plastic every month on average. Chronic inflammation alone may well be contributing to increased cancer rates.

[Mosby]

12. I think the US life expectancy is dropping

this is probably why.

[Kennah]

13. Has to be vaccines