Do we have an unhealthy obsession with health?
Discussion
So apparently now we mustn't put ham in our kids lunchboxes unless we want them to get bowel cancer in later life. 
Is this sort of thing really healthy? The human race has been eating cured and/or smoked meats for centuries, and we're still here. OK, so cancer is on the increase, but how much of that increase comes from the fact that over the last 100 years or so we've relentlessly eradicated hundreds of alternative causes of death?
Once upon a time, we had plenty of people dying of Smallpox, Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria, Tetanus and God only knows what other illnesses. When was the last time you heard of anyone in the developed world dying of these illnesses? How many of the people who died from these illnesses in the past might have died from cancer if something else hadn't got them first?
OK, I know most people will just ignore this advice, but there seems to be a relentless urge to remove all possible risk from life, regardless of how much enjoyment it takes with it. If the human race was under threat of extinction, I could understand this, but at the moment the biggest threat to the human race that I can see is the sheer amount of us that there are!
On a planet where there's 7 Billion or so people, with that population growing at a staggering rate, and water oil and other resources starting to look fairly scarce, wouldn't it be more responsible to encourage people to enjoy themselves, not worry too much about cancer, and have the good grace not to trundle on into their 90s?
I just get the feeling that the more causes of individual death we eradicate, the more we increase the risk of Mother Nature just redressing the balance through global famine or some other deadly occurrence.
Is this sort of thing really healthy? The human race has been eating cured and/or smoked meats for centuries, and we're still here. OK, so cancer is on the increase, but how much of that increase comes from the fact that over the last 100 years or so we've relentlessly eradicated hundreds of alternative causes of death?
Once upon a time, we had plenty of people dying of Smallpox, Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria, Tetanus and God only knows what other illnesses. When was the last time you heard of anyone in the developed world dying of these illnesses? How many of the people who died from these illnesses in the past might have died from cancer if something else hadn't got them first?
OK, I know most people will just ignore this advice, but there seems to be a relentless urge to remove all possible risk from life, regardless of how much enjoyment it takes with it. If the human race was under threat of extinction, I could understand this, but at the moment the biggest threat to the human race that I can see is the sheer amount of us that there are!
On a planet where there's 7 Billion or so people, with that population growing at a staggering rate, and water oil and other resources starting to look fairly scarce, wouldn't it be more responsible to encourage people to enjoy themselves, not worry too much about cancer, and have the good grace not to trundle on into their 90s?
I just get the feeling that the more causes of individual death we eradicate, the more we increase the risk of Mother Nature just redressing the balance through global famine or some other deadly occurrence.
Why did this get moved to News, Politics & Economics? 
I had it pegged more as a general discussion on Man's drive to eliminate death at an individual level without giving much thought to the side effects of having billions more people on the planet as a result. I merely quoted a current news story to illustrate the concept.
I had it pegged more as a general discussion on Man's drive to eliminate death at an individual level without giving much thought to the side effects of having billions more people on the planet as a result. I merely quoted a current news story to illustrate the concept.
Soovy said:
We cannot avoid our own inevitable destiny.
To quote the great poet Robbie Williams...
To quote the great poet Robbie Williams...
Robbie said:
I know I'm going to die. My revenge is living well.
W H Auden said:
Give me a doctor partridge-plump,
Short in the leg and broad in the rump,
An endomorph with gentle hands
Who'll never make absurd demands
That I abandon all my vices
Nor pull a long face in a crisis,
But with a twinkle in his eye
Will tell me that I have to die.
Short in the leg and broad in the rump,
An endomorph with gentle hands
Who'll never make absurd demands
That I abandon all my vices
Nor pull a long face in a crisis,
But with a twinkle in his eye
Will tell me that I have to die.
With all due respect the report just says to try and limit the amount of read meat and salt you feed to children. Given the crap diet most people in the UK have and the number of obese children that you see rolling to school everyday I personally think it's useful to remind people that feeding their children s
te will statistically increase their chances of bowel cancer.
There's no harm in telling people about their risk so they can make an informed decision themselves.
... And yes, outside of moderation, most things do give you cancer! But surely that's just a reminder that we must show some discipline and a degree of common sense about what we eat. Afterall this isn't rocket science. I personally believe what we mustn't do is join the Daily Wail brigade and proclaim that the Dr's and scientists are just a bunch of whiners or that the government should regulate yet another part of our lives.
If people keep eating themselves to death before we know it we'll have a sodding sausage tax and then how the hell will I afford a McMuffin with my change from beer tokens? And as usual it will be everybody's fault but mine...
te will statistically increase their chances of bowel cancer.There's no harm in telling people about their risk so they can make an informed decision themselves.
... And yes, outside of moderation, most things do give you cancer! But surely that's just a reminder that we must show some discipline and a degree of common sense about what we eat. Afterall this isn't rocket science. I personally believe what we mustn't do is join the Daily Wail brigade and proclaim that the Dr's and scientists are just a bunch of whiners or that the government should regulate yet another part of our lives.
If people keep eating themselves to death before we know it we'll have a sodding sausage tax and then how the hell will I afford a McMuffin with my change from beer tokens? And as usual it will be everybody's fault but mine...
Nolar Dog said:
I'm going to die anyway. I'm not really bothered "what of".
Does the quality of life you have in the meantime not concern you though?I'm not terrifically frightened of death either but the prospect of being a vegetable and a burden to the state and others, quite frankly, scares the living s
t out of me. If I can be given information that can help me avoid this I am always grateful. Even if it's simple advice like the amount of red meat I can probably get away with whilst avoiding bowel cancer.
Nolar Dog said:
G_T said:
Nolar Dog said:
I'm going to die anyway. I'm not really bothered "what of".
Does the quality of life you have in the meantime not concern you though?ts into a little plastic bag attacted to his waist.That's kind of put me off eating sausages and bacon.
CzechItOut said:
I dunno. I know someone who had bowel cancer and now sts into a little plastic bag attacted to his waist.
That's kind of put me off eating sausages and bacon.
I know someone who got cancer in the liver and they had never drank alcohol in their life.ts into a little plastic bag attacted to his waist.That's kind of put me off eating sausages and bacon.
So therefore alcohol stops you getting liver diseases.
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