'Vitamins Will Not Keep You Out of My Cancer Clinic'

I noticed this on my News Feed, and thought it related to a tangent from this morning here about cancer prevention.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/03/exercise_prevents_colorectal_cancer_but_vitamins_do_not_advice_from_an_m.html

I know it's Slate, so whatever, whatever, but the doctor who writes the piece says that there are two ways to prevent colon cancer:

* Regular screens after age 40;
* Exercise, exercise, exercise!

She notes that exercise is the key in weight maintenance, because dieting causes muscle loss, too, whereas exercise plus sensible eating can eliminate the belly fat that is strongly correlated with colon cancer.

Watched my brother-in-law die of colon cancer. It wasn't fun.

 

When I see a Dick Whitman new thread, I play a game in my head - what's it gonna be, a story from Slate, NY Times Magazine, or The Atlantic?

I voted for NY Times on this one.... boo, me.

 

I have never linked to a NY Times Magazine story. Ever.

 

Why live your life in fear?
I mean this quite honestly.
Eat what the fuck you want, I will die free and happy.

 

I'd like to see my children grow up.

I'd like to have a high quality of life as long as I can.

Lots of reasons.

My dad died before his only grandson, my son, turned 3. My wife was still pregnant at the time with child No. 2. I don't want that for me, if I can help it.

Also, I've seen someone die of cancer. I don't want that, to the minimal extent I can prevent it.

 

I just turned 40 and when I had my last physical I asked my doc when I had to start getting tested for that stuff and he said not until 50 unless you have a family history. My grandfather died of colon cancer in his 70s, but I was told I would only be tested if it was a parent or a sibling who got it, and they would have had to have gotten it early (before 60).

While I was glad not to have to get the test, there was part of me that would rather be tested and cleared. I talked with a friend who is a doctor and was told that there are a lot of "false positives" and often if you get the test too early, it can create additional problems.

Has anyone been told something similar?

 

I don't think you're living your life in fear if you get tested for things regularly.

 

I think that Nate Silver writes about this in "The Signal and the Noise," his book. It has to do with the way they actually determine whether you have something or not. It's not a cut-and-dried test in a lot of cases. It requires interpretation, and in low-risk groups, the harm of testing probably outweighs the benefit, overall.

I imagine that's why straight people rarely get HIV tests, though I think you have to get one for life insurance policies not connected to your employment.

 

I have lost many people, myself.
Some well before their times.
Life is for the living, as Jefferson said.
Have to keep moving, not worry about mortality.

 

I definitely understand where you're coming from. Some people get so obsessed with not dying that it basically becomes the focus of their life, at the expense of living.

But everyone has a line, right? Do you smoke, for example? Probably not.

 

That makes sense... My brother-in-law is in his early 30s and he's already been tested for it because his dad died of it in his early 50s.

 

No. No smoking or drugs. I am fond of beef and alcohol.
I labor under the delusion I was put here to be happy.
I'm not going to starve myself while I'm on this planet.