Why is cancer rate so high in Maine? (Skowhegan: buy, wage)

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by RMoore007

Lots of cancer throughout my family in Maine. I visited my doctor once a few years ago, gave him my family history, and then we talked for a bit. He finally said, well Roger, we all die of cancer eventually. I think he was kidding but was making a point that once upon a time, it was just called old age.

The older I get, I try to eat less and exercise more. If I still have a date stamp in me somewhere, at least my quality of life is better. But I'll be darned if my weight doesn't change at all. I would have to starve myself and take up jogging again to get down to my ideal weight. And that would be a bad quality of life at my age.

A couple weeks ago I attended an event among the speakers of which was an oncologist. This guy explained that he is a cancer survivor, and that his hobby has became amassing findings from all of the studies and published articles from 'all' cancer research.

We often hear about fund raising events for 'cancer research', but we rarely hear what they have learned.

He gave a fascinating 60-minute talk, with lots of slides and handouts

One of the concepts that he explained is that everyone has cancer. Somewhere in our bodies some thing is growing in a manner that is not how it is supposed to grow. For many of us, we may have multiple masses growing all at once.

The rate of growth for each mass, when plotted may be that it becomes detectable after 5-years, or after 20-years, or after 40-years, or 100-years.

Most people die from other causes long before any of these masses grow to the extent of being detected.

With 22 specific kinds of cancers: many have been linked to specific genes, many to specific environmental factors, to lifestyle factors, and to diet.

1- Some of those links are links that predispose a person to having that cancer;
2- and some of those links predispose a person to never allowing the cancer to grow to the extent of being detected. [it was like even if you did get x cancer these second kinds of links were things that would deter it from growing.]

The cross-referencing of all this data looks to be a huge project. Studies done only offer tiny piecemeal slices of information.

[retiredtinbender]

Originally Posted by bangorme

Well Molly, but you AREN'T the moderator btw. This forum has been so over-moderated that is has become overly-boring to the extreme IMHO.

But, anyway. I'm not sure that diet is going to protect you from cancer. It can protect you from obesity, which is the major cause of the explosion of type 2 diabetes. To bring this into context (Maine), this state has major problems in this area. I believe it has something to do with poverty and the fact that it is a big state that is very spread out. Endocrinologists are few and far between, so if you want to move to Maine and need one, check it out first.

If you want excitement go to the Politics and Other Controversies forum. They fire up fairly well and regularly. Here we generally do not paint with such a broad brush.

But I agree with you that diet won't do much for cancer prevention. Unless you gnaw on depleted uranium after supper.

[retiredtinbender]

Originally Posted by The-Raven

On topic, true, and truths people don't want to hear. When your kids die from cancer because you fed them the wrong things and brought them up to eat poorly you will wonder where you went wrong.

I suppose no one here was ever hit with a ruler by a nun? I guess that's wrong too?

Nuns feared me. And I was a good, Catholic, altar boy. But back to the point, they never taught me to starve my kids if they didn't eat. And I don't believe diet, as we're speaking, has a lot to do with cancer prevention. Health, yes and your diet should be good. But people tend to go overboard on things. "Moderation in all things, including moderation." Petronius

[msina]

Originally Posted by mollysmiles

Maybe so, but in *this* Maine relocation forum, there are rules. "On topic" is one of them. That might not be so in other forums you visit regularly, but it's been reinforced here, and enforced by the mods. Inflammatory and derogatory statements are also not allowed. Have you read the TOS?

I have much more I'd like to say regarding your feeling that it's not only appropriate, but good parenting to starve your child, but since it's most definitely "off topic" I'll refrain.

Agreed! AND,.. this is why I seldom bother to participate in this forum now.




WOW!

[Sunday1]

Originally Posted by The-Raven

I feel for the people who live in the city, drinking out of a well I do not have to deal with those meds, hormones, etc etc. Sadly, because of medical advances, there are people alive today who really should not be. A cruel truth, but an honest one. We have too many people on earth. Modern medicine is partially to blame.

I'd call a company to analyze the well water you're drinking. There's clearly a problem. Good luck.

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by Sunday1

I'd call a company to analyze the well water you're drinking. There's clearly a problem. Good luck.

kinda sounds like that movie "wrong turn"

[inthedark]

paper mills?

[cebdark]

Originally Posted by The-Raven

I don't see what the problem is, it's the kids that are a problem these days, it's the parents who cater to their every whim and get taken back when a statement is made like the one I made.

Our society has gotten too soft on kids, this is why we have shiftless overweight, misbehaving brats and the ME generation.

To keep this on subject; if the parents do not start behaving like parents and less like friends, kids will continue to eat poorly and will live not outlive their parents. It's already happening with Type 2 diabetes and obesity epidemics. So yes, if they don't want to eat healthy food in front of them....THEY CAN STARVE

Oh please. It's not 1959 anymore.

Many households now require two working parents to make ends meet, and mother (or father) is no longer home to cook a decent meal (even though truthfully, it's really no quicker to cook something whole than to open something processed half to death).

Even if she is home, chances are since she is expected to sit and supervise her child's ridiculous homework, she's going to buy a quick "box-o-crap" overpriced, "the cardboard box is better for you" ready meal because she'll likely be spending most of the night fighting with her kids over finishing what should have been done in school. Just sayin'

Nonetheless, the further that food moves from being 'from the ground to the table' the more likely you will be exposed to chemicals which have the potential to cause cancer down the road.

That's common sense. Eat less processed junk, don't do things that have been proven to wear on your body, and exercise. That's the bottom line IMO.

[halfabuck]

I do not think it takes a long time to cook a decent meal even if both parents work. if it is planned right a nice dinner only takes inside of an hour to prepare. If you are home at a reasonable hour, say five or six o'clock, you can be eating by 7:00 PM. During that time everyone can do the things they need to do including the kids and their homework. At my house we usually have a dinner that is pretty wholesome and not something from a box or fast food. What takes the most time is the clean up afterwards. But it all seems to fit quite nicely. Maybe in this day and age parents don't want to go to the trouble of making a nice dinner and that's understandable after a long day at work. But the dinner should be one of those "me" things that you do for yourself. Good food is part of good health for the whole family. Even though we try to eat well we still have access to a lot of processed foods that are hard to avoid. I eat a lot of well balanced meals but have also eaten the not so good food. We have raised our family and always had a sit down dinner. Now we have the grandkids (and our own kids back) and we still try to prepare a good dinner each night. I have had cancer. I have always tried to eat what was good for me and did a lot of exercising too. People tend to put a lot of emphasis on the perils of processed food, and I agree. Additives like salt and combined fat do a lot to hurt our bodies I think. But I also think there is a combination of other variables at work here.

I agree that a lot of kids today are downright annoying. We as parents did try to be their best friends growing up and I think that was the wrong thing to do. In the 50's and 60's adults were respected a lot more than today. Don't get me wrong, my 3 kids grew up to be fine adults but I think they missed something when it comes to realizing that we as parents do not want to be questioned or criticized at our age. They do not have a right to tell us what they think is best for us all the time so they can feel so right and knowledgeable about everything. We have been there, done that. I have a 10 year old grandson who just does not hesitate to argue with an adult and I think that is very wrong. His mother seems to accept it, unless of course he is arguing with her.

[cebdark]

Originally Posted by halfabuck

I do not think it takes a long time to cook a decent meal even if both parents work. if it is planned right a nice dinner only takes inside of an hour to prepare. If you are home at a reasonable hour, say five or six o'clock, you can be eating by 7:00 PM. During that time everyone can do the things they need to do including the kids and their homework. At my house we usually have a dinner that is pretty wholesome and not something from a box or fast food. What takes the most time is the clean up afterwards. But it all seems to fit quite nicely. Maybe in this day and age parents don't want to go to the trouble of making a nice dinner and that's understandable after a long day at work. But the dinner should be one of those "me" things that you do for yourself. Good food is part of good health for the whole family. Even though we try to eat well we still have access to a lot of processed foods that are hard to avoid. I eat a lot of well balanced meals but have also eaten the not so good food. We have raised our family and always had a sit down dinner. Now we have the grandkids (and our own kids back) and we still try to prepare a good dinner each night. I have had cancer. I have always tried to eat what was good for me and did a lot of exercising too. People tend to put a lot of emphasis on the perils of processed food, and I agree. Additives like salt and combined fat do a lot to hurt our bodies I think. But I also think there is a combination of other variables at work here.

I agree that a lot of kids today are downright annoying. We as parents did try to be their best friends growing up and I think that was the wrong thing to do. In the 50's and 60's adults were respected a lot more than today. Don't get me wrong, my 3 kids grew up to be fine adults but I think they missed something when it comes to realizing that we as parents do not want to be questioned or criticized at our age. They do not have a right to tell us what they think is best for us all the time so they can feel so right and knowledgeable about everything. We have been there, done that. I have a 10 year old grandson who just does not hesitate to argue with an adult and I think that is very wrong. His mother seems to accept it, unless of course he is arguing with her.

I agree. I cook meals as well; however, those box-o-meals would cease to exist if people weren't eating them, so I think marketing conditioning has done its job well.

Children who mouth back to an adult need their keister's kicked. Meh, call me old-fashioned, but I blame the parent for that.

It will be interesting to see (some 40 years down the road) what kind of ailments our mass-producing, genetically-manipulating, chemically-containing food supply brings to our anatomy. Personally, I hope to not be alive to see it by then. Who knows? Maybe we'll glow in the dark.