eli5: why is cancer increasing in young people?

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Is it just because we dont die of other things first?

In: Biology

13 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

In the past decade, there has been almost 30% increase in the population. As with any other disorder, as the number of people increase, so do the victims. Lifestyle before consisted of sparse use of carcinogenic substances. Sure tobacco was abused before too but im talking more about skin creams, fast food etc. Genetically since medical technology is advancing, more people who actually get cancer are saved. Sometimes these “genetic cancers” are due to something called oncogenes. Meaning if the host survives, their child is also very much prone to cancer. So as counterintuitive as it may seem, this is a way in which advancement in medicine leads to increase in cancer rates. Now factor in that early cancer detection mechanisms are higher now and the awareness of cancer itself is more. Then factor in global warming and its subsequent effects. Cancer is not a single condition as such. Its a spectrum defined by uncontrolled cell division basically. There is a corelation (not implying direct causation) between artificial environments and rise in cancer (please see studies) and well, most of our buildings, workspaces and rooms have local environment control techniques. All these factor in together

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