So sorry about your mom. I lost both of my parents to cancer. My dad had found a lump in his neck on July 1 and was dead by September 25. They called it poorly differentiated Carcinoma. They never figured out where it started. By the time they figured that out it was everywhere. My mom died from melanoma three years earlier.
Funny enough, international travel is one of the reasons people need to continue to vaccinate. It's funny (unsettling may be a better word) to me to hear arguments and perceptions like your friend is saying. That is simply misunderstanding vaccination. A vaccine is simply a pinch of a disease introduced to your system so that your immune system is not caught off-guard and can mount a response to it due to familiarity. It's about as "organic" as you get, the only difference is you inject the exposure in minute amounts. People who think we "over immunize" are basing that on lay perception and inuendo, not facts. In the United States, by college, we vaccinate against a total of 16 diseases. Sixteen, that's all. It's more shots than 16, but 16 total diseases (boosters are needed to continue to remind the immune system, thus the need for repeated shots). Every one of us face millions, literally millions, of immune challenges in our lifetime, maybe more, and we only vaccinate against 16 of those. The reason we choose those 16 is because they have very serious, life-threatening, or long-term morbidity consequences associated with them. We don't just vaccinate against anything. Vaccines are the very reason why many of us experience parents who die of cancer and heart disease at a later age, rather than infectious causes at a much younger age. It's also one of the biggest reasons for population explosions that are occurring worldwide. Kids receive vaccines that prevent 3 different forms of bacterial meningitis that kill you, several illnesses that result in breathing distress to the point that you need a breathing tube to survive and then often still die, prevent polio that causes lifelong paralysis in which most are wheelchair bound and don't live the high quality life most of us are accustomed to, viruses that result in liver failure needing transplants to survive, other viruses that, if you survive, lead to brain damage, seizures, permanent disabilities, etc, etc. Anyone who believes the BS about vaccines being bad are not educating themselves about the actual facts, or seeing the big picture, and have themselves benefited from vaccines via herd immunity, and have loved ones that have benefited greatly from them even though they don't always realize or appreciate it. Vaccines are one the biggest advancements in the modern era. No question about it. I'm sure you know most of this, but other's don't, and believe the negative inuendo comments on social media. The science is clear. Vaccine positives far outweigh any negatives. In 25 years of giving vaccines on a daily basis, I've not seen one serious consequence. I'm talking serious consequence, not one. Yet, if I didn't give those vaccines, I would see serious consequences every day. It's a no-brainer really. And, no, vaccines don't cause autism. 100%. That is very well established medically. Any one who believes this is welcome to message me and I'll explain why autism rates have gone up, and why it is not related to vaccines.
That’s my fear as well. My Grandmother passed a few days ago she was riddled with cancer. My uncle, just found out he has prostate cancer. It just seems to be happening to way more people, or maybe it’s just the tech we have to discover it more I don’t know. Sorry about your loss though.
Paradise has pretty well nailed all the risk factors and reasons and of course, due to technology, more people (more statistics means better reliability) are being diagnosed accurately. Consider the 10 highest states for smokers: Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, W Virginia. Consider the 10 highest states for obesity: W Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Indiana/Michigan. Consider the 10 highest states for age-adjusted cancer: Kentucky, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maine, New Hampshire, Louisiana, Connecticut, New York, Iowa, Michigan. Mostly East of the Mississippi. Could be environment. The most likely contributor is obesity sometimes exacerbated by secondary lifestyle choices like smoking. The 10 states with the highest cancer mortality rates: Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, W Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma. Those states have 2 things in common....very high rates of smokers and poverty. The most common cancer among American men is prostate and while there is no absolute cause, the biggest risk factors seem to be consumption of red meat and fat which over-stimulates hormones like testosterone. For women, it's breast cancer which often results from smoking and diet. Cancer is also often co-morbid with other diseases like diabetes, heart disease, lung disease where the immune system is compromised. And now I look at all these kids vaping....a liquid form of nicotine and the government isn't stepping in to regulate a damn thing. Why? Because the treatment is more profitable than the cure. There's probably never going to be a cure for cancer....at least the public won't find out about it.
