re: Friend diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer - Health Advice Needed - 20-30 YO Males

Having that blast of reality happens to us all bro. When it happened to me I went to a doctor and got examined. Explained exactly why I wanted to be examined due to bad things happening to someone else. Got my balls grabbed, got looked over, got blood work and a pat on the head. Every few years I get checked up again.

Stay the hell away from Googling it yourself. Will scare the crap out of you for no reason at all. Just go take the time and get the checkups from your doctor. It's all you can do. Sorry about your friend.

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As one who understands people are not immortal.

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Quite the contrary, my understanding is that people are immortal.

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I had a colonoscopy and they found a cancerous polyp. I had part of my colon removed and no other cancer was found. I was fortunate. I tell everyone 50 or older to have a colonoscopy. It saved me. The procedure is not that bad, you get to spend the day napping, and have a day of farting and your SO can't complain.

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Thanks for sharing. It just has me freaked out. It happens to someone and you start researching a little on your own and bam! You think you have it....

Agreed.

Recently had a swollen lymph node in my neck that persisted...

GP waited 2 months before a referral to a hematologist that ordered a biopsy right away. Said a lot of time it's nothing... or lymphoma. Biopsy came back benign, related to a form of rare side effect of exzema.

My point is that the most you can do is ask a lot of questions and watch for any changes in your body. Find a doctor you trust and be persistent to find out what's going on, if anything.

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Not sure what GP is.

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Basically a family doctor

Don't trust em in my opinion. Unless you know them personally. I've known a good few in my time.

To the OP, we had a friend find out he had cancer when he was 22. We tried knocking off everything off his personal bucket list (that was financially and physically able to). We were always honest about his situation, we never sugar coated it amongst our group. And we cherished every moment together. He passed away almost two years after being diagnosed. Looking back with our group of friends we wouldn't have done it any other way


I'm sending prayers for your friend and you as well.

Standard response (screening):

Close follow by a knowledgeable primary care physician

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NCCN Guidelines for Patients

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Link to currrent cancer screening recommendations.

LINK


Undervalued response (primary prevention through practical lifestyle recommendations and PROPER dietary recommendations for the masses...):

You are not a slave to your genetics. The environment that you expose yourself to dictates the expression of those genes...

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9 Steps To Perfect Health

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non-pdf version

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Despite these considerable advances, we’re sicker and fatter than ever before. Consider the following:
• Excess weight now accounts for one in three deaths among middle aged people in the US each year.
• A billion people around the world suffer from diabetes and obesity.
• 600 thousand people die of heart attacks in the US each year.
• One-third of Americans suffer from high blood pressure, which contributes to almost 800 thousand strokes every year.
• 50 million people in the US—one in six Americans—suffer from autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto’s, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and Crohn’s disease.
• Depression is now the leading cause of disability, affecting more than 120 million people worldwide.
Unfortunately, there’s every indication that things are going to get worse before they get better. This is the first generation of American children that are expected to live shorter lifespans than their parents. If current trends continue, 95 percent of Americans are expected to be overweight or obese within two decades, and one in three will suffer from diabetes.

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See link below with mTOR (IGF-1 pathway)

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Finding a Balance Between Building and Repair: Part 1

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LINK

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Finding a Balance Between Building and Repair: Part 2 Intermittent Fasting

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LINK





Ever wonder why obese people look older than their stated age...

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Building (growth) is an anabolic process that happens when mTOR is turned on. Stimuli such as resistance training and eating protein (especially the branched-chain amino acid leucine) turn the mTOR switch on. The hormone insulin also turns on the mTOR building pathway. This effect of insulin should come as no surprise to readers of Strong Medicine (SM pages 107-108) as we discussed insulin as a hormone of growth and storage.

As Dan Cenidoza covered in his Strength after Sixty post, the anabolic pathways of building are crucial to grow and maintain muscle mass especially as we age. Not enough of “turning on” the mTOR switch can lead to sarcopenia and frailty in old age.

At the extreme end of the mTOR building pathway is cancer. By the simplest definition, cancer is uncontrolled cell growth. Recent science has shown that many cancer cells have abnormally high mTOR signaling, putting them is a perpetual state of growth. People with insulin resistance (SM p. 180) have higher levels of insulin in their bloodstream at all times which keeps the mTOR switch activated. Thus, it is no surprise that those with insulin resistance/diabetes are known to have increase risk of cancer.

We also now know that high levels of sustained mTOR activation can lead to accelerating aging in many species, including humans. With this information in mind, it becomes evident that getting the proper “dose” of mTOR activation is key.

We need enough “turning on” the mTOR building (growth) switch to prevent the loss of muscle mass so crucial for healthy aging, but no so much that we accelerate the aging process and become at increased risk for diseases such as cancer.

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mTOR is always {ON} in our ever sicker/obese population of folks eating multiple small meals of mainly carbohydrate/sugar centric fare (AS THEY WERE ADVISED TO...)

This road to hell was paved with the "good intentions" of trying to avoid dietary fat/cholesterol...

"Different/radical" response (rethinking what we know about cancer...)

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Potential Tactics for Defeating Cancer — A Toolkit in 1,000 Words

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LINK

see the links at the bottom of the piece linked above (and listed below)

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There is a deluge of writing about cancer.

Below, I’ve suggested a top-10 list of articles as starting points. Some are for lay audiences, some are technical, but all are worth the time to read. Here you go:

Looking for articles to pass to your parents, or to read as a lay person? Read these, in this order:
1. Non-technical talk by Craig Thompson, Pres/CEO of Sloan-Kettering
2. Science piece written about cancer (for non-technical audience) by Gary Taubes

Have a little background and want the 80/20 analysis, the greatest bang for the buck? Read this:
3. Relatively non-technical review article on the Warburg Effect written by Vander Heiden, Thompson, and Cantley

Peaking on modafinil during a flight to Tokyo? Want to deep dive for a few hours? Here are three recommendations, in this order:
4. Detailed review article by Tom Seyfried
5. Review article on the role of carb restriction in the treatment and prevention of cancer
6. Talk given by author of above paper for those who prefer video

Want four bonus reads, all very good? As you wish:
7. Moderately technical review article by Shaw and Cantley
8. Clinical paper on the role of metformin in breast cancer by Ana Gonzalez-Angulo
9. Mouse study by Dom D’Agostino’s group examining role of ketogenic diet and hyperbaric oxygen on a very aggressive tumor model
10. Mechanistic study by Feinman and Fine assessing means by which acetoacetate (a ketone body) suppresses tumor growth in human cancer cell lines

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LINK

New York Times Article

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An Old Idea, Revived:
Starve Cancer to Death
In the early 20th century, the German biochemist Otto Warburg
believed that tumors could be treated by disrupting their source
of energy. His idea was dismissed for decades — until now.

BY SAM APPLEMAY 12, 2016

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I can sy having been through the mill since 18 you just never know. Don't worry yourself to death over it. It'll eat you. Basic screening is all you can do sometimes.

Tell your friend there is hope. Im not sure where he is going for treatment but there is a surgeon at Houston colorectal clinic named Randolph Bailey.

His hands truly were a gift from God. He put me back together after they told me at age 28 with a new baby girl my entire colon had to come out. High grade dysplasia they called it. Cancer was next.

He cut me at least 16-18 inches. Scar is pretty much non existent. He made me an internal pouch out of my small intestine. I shite in a bag for 4 months while healing. Then he hooked me back to that pouch.

Unreal work man. Maybe he can help your friend.

I'm 6'4" and back up to 240lbs. 34 and now have 3 kids. Hes amazing. Your friend can do this. He has to stay positive. Has to eat to keep his strength. When there is surgery your going to have to lift him up on the rough days man.

Good luck.

Randolph Bailey

Honestly, other than an annual physical there's not much that you can do to detect cancer early in life. The most common cancer for a young man would be testicular cancer. So, check your nuts. Melanoma is taking down more and more young people. Check your skin.

The best way to achieve a long and healthy life is through preventative measures: don't smoke, dont drink too much, don't be obese, don't do drugs, exercise, eat healthy, sleep, and don't do reckless things. The number one killer of young males is accidents. Also, listen to your body. If something is wrong, don't wait.

Cancer is, generally, a disease of the old, and colonoscopies are not cost-effective until age 50. There are also problems with overscreening. Doctors can't CT people yearly. New tests are on the horizon, but still not available.

Your friend is an unfortunate outlier. There is nothing he could've done to prevent early colon cancer unless he had a family history or was ignoring symptoms for a long time. Some people just have bad luck. Enjoy your life and love your family.

Prayers for your buddy.