a question

I'm sorry about your mom, cycle-path. My brother died of lung cancer and he never smoked and led a pretty clean life. There is suspicion that his work had something to do with his case. Nothing is guaranteed in life and sometimes intuition is as valid as a medical test (maybe even more so at times).

I think it's true that many cancers were not reported in the past. It's also true that people are living longer - and most cases of cancer develop after the age of 60.  Both my parents and two of my grandparents had cancer, all in their 70s (actually my Mum was 80). A generation or two earlier, most people died before they were 60 so these cancers would never have developed. 

Certainly some types of cancer are more prevalent today and seem to develop at an earlier age.  How much of this is due to better/more accurate/more precise screening?  In the past, if an early stage cancer wasn't caught, the person might have died of other causes before the cancer had developed to the point of being diagnosed and being problematic.

All that said, I do believe that we live in a more toxic society.  However there's simply no way to know which of the millions of things that we've been exposed to in our lives might have contributed to each of our individual cases of cancer.   Was the seed of my BC started when I was a kid, because of something that I was exposed to then?  Or was it something more current, something that I am exposed to now? Was my BC the result of genetics, not in the traditional sense but because I inherited extreme breast density from my mother?  Or was it genetic in the more traditional sense, caused by an inherited gene mutation that hasn't been identified yet (I've tested BRCA negative for the known mutations)?  Was my BC caused by my lifestyle or personal choices?  I've never taken birth control pills (well I tried them for a couple of months only) or HRT, but I do consume white wine and green beans together quite often.  Whatever planted the seed of my BC, whether it was before I was born, or 45 years ago or in the years just prior to my diagnosis, was the growth of the cancer triggered by some other toxin or environmental factor or by the stress in my life in the couple of years prior to my diagnosis? 

I think there's a two part answer.  1.We don't know. and   2. All of the Above.  We certainly don't know, and it certainly possible that it's "all of the above".  I believe it's impossible to know what caused the development of my BC.  And believing that, I choose to not stress about it.  I also choose to not significantly change my life or my habits because I don't want to deprive myself for what very well might be no reason at all. I try to have habits that contribute to overall good health, but I don't overdo it and I won't stop enjoying something (wine, meat, dairy being three examples) because it might possibly negatively affect a small percentage of people in random (but very imprecise) research studies. I'd rather enjoy my life. 

When I was diagnosed, my surgeon remarked that they were seeing more and more young women diagnosed each year. I scoffed that it was because of early and overdetection, and she replied that many cases were advanced BC.



I think the interesting question is why rates seem to be up for young women. It's not lifestyle: research shows that the factors like drinking and being overweight are more for post-menopausal, and so many of these women seem to be healthy and skinny. It could possibly be related to childbirth changes (I did IVF and had children in my mid thirties - late). But I've got to be suspicious of things like BPA and hormones in meat and dairy: stuff we were exposed to as kids but our grandparents were not.



When I asked the same doctor what I could do to reduce risk (and should I stop drinking, take mega supplements), she replied that whatever caused my BC was something in the past: IVF or childhood X-rays or childhood chemical exposure. Her advice was to avoid plastics with food, eat local and organic, and otherwise not worry. I think that made sense.

bexybexy, green beans and white wine are NOT bad for you. That was just an example I gave of a random combination that could give a person cancer. I might have said asparagus and orange juice, or pears and tomatoes, or living in a house with plaster walls. The point is that we just don't know what it is in our environment or lifestyles that may trigger a genetic predisposition.