“The IARC will reportedly classify aspartame as a possible carcinogen. But this isn’t a food safety agency, and the context matters.”

  • Dick Justice@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I mean, to be honest, with 1 in 2 women and 1 in 3 men in the US estimated to get cancer in their lifetime, I’m just not surprised anymore when someone tells me <insert whatever> is linked to cancer.

    • JoJo@social.fossware.space
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      1 year ago

      The main risk factor for cancer is old age. Wealthy countries have a lot of cancer because a lot of people live long enough to get cancer.

      • arditty@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yep. Nobody dies of just “old age”, there’s always a cause. Unfortunately cancer is the cause that is the hardest to treat.

        • JoJo@social.fossware.space
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          1 year ago

          It’s a bit more than that. Cancer is caused by copying errors. Just the right errors, in just the right order. The longer you live, the more chances these copying errors get to happen in just the right order. If nothing else kills you, cancer will.

          So, wealthy countries have a lot of cancer because they have a lot of people living longer. And the media loves to run stories on how terrifying this is.