- cross-posted to:
- world@quokk.au
- cross-posted to:
- world@quokk.au
Worryingly, Australia is a world leader when it comes to bowel cancer.
Instead, most experts believe toxins or toxic influences in the world around us are interacting with genes to cause malignant changes.
In other words, you might unknowingly carry a gene that’s only altered when you’re exposed to a particular chemical, whereas someone else who doesn’t have that version of the gene would be unaffected.
Lifestyle and pollution, who’d have thought /s
As I visit the city today (bus), I’m not sure how people tolerate the toxic transport pollution stench :(
There must be some desensitising to it from a young age e.g. getting a car, getting used to the smell of petrol every time you fill the tank and so on. Not to mention a lot of folk probably work in similar or more caustic environments so there would be some rationalising going on too.
Where we used to live in Sydney was a busy strip of cafes, restaurants, bars, pubs, many of which had outdoor seating and dining by the main road which was usually two to four lanes of busy traffic at most times of the day. You look at the shopfronts and signs, the footpaths and building facades and it’s all covered in soot. Sure it’s not building up that quickly but you only have to see it once and say to yourself, this is not a healthy environment, maybe all these people oriented places shouldn’t be a on what’s basically a highway. But nope, I never heard a word or complaint.
I never got the sitting outdoors on a road.
Also, exercising (walking, running, cycling) where roads are, would surely be even worse for you?
Cycling is somewhat understandable, but I completely agree with running and walking. It always baffles me when I see these people around my area going for walks or runs along a main road, breathing in all the traffic fumes, when they could do it on quiet suburban streets, around a lake or along the beach.
Annoyingly sometimes a main road or highway is the only way to find relatively flat terrain. Where I live the moment you are off the main road you’re into endless hills, makes it difficult if you’re trying to keep your heart rate in a certain range!
Though completely agree about using suburban streets for running. Much nicer than major roads!
One of the reasons people do use roads is that they are often flatter and in better condition, and you’re not competing for space with children and dogs. But better that than cars with all the risks that come with them (collisions and noise/air pollution).
However, the health benefits of regular exercise tend to outweigh the risk of air pollution (although perhaps not in severely polluted cities like in parts of India). So it’s probably still worth if that’s the most convenient place to exercise, if you can minimise the safety risk at least.