I feel like I am always hearing about how things are carcinogenic, like red meat or air conditioners or aspartame. Why does it seem like *so* many things are carcinogenic and does that mean they cause cancer? Because it’s starting to feel like everything causes cancer…
This is the type of thing that gets my anxiety going so I’d love if someone who understands this better than I do can explain it.
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Speaking as a hypochondriac: Cancer happens as a result of some combination of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. You have no control over your genes, and you have very limited control over your environment. Sure, you should endeavor to avoid asbestos exposure, but you were probably already doing that to the best of your ability. In other words, you’re asking the wrong question. It’s not about what a carcinogen is, but what do you need to specificity avoid to minimize your risk of cancer?
The third category is what you have the most control over, so focus on that and forget the rest. Eat a balanced diet, maintain a healthy weight, be active, don’t smoke, keep alcohol to a minimum, go for your regular checkups and screenings, and you will most likely be ok. Of course some people do all these things and still get cancer, but it’s rare. There is so much sensationalism around cancer that it’s easy to lose sight if the fact that most people actually never develop it. Your body is a remarkable machine and generally does a pretty good job of shutting down all kinds of things that can kill you, cancerous cells included. It happens all the time, every minute of every day without you knowing it. Respect your body and you’ll grow to trust in its ability to protect you.
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