It seems to me (absolutely unscientific poll) that a lot of fit people develop multiple myeloma. I used to run marathons and have always been a gym rat. I also notice that many of the Beacon contributors are runners, bikers, hikers, swimmers or "gym-rats."
I'm just making an observation.
Coach Hoke
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Re: Being healthy (fit) & multiple myeloma
That is an interesting observation, Coach Hoke. One 'theory' on that is, if you have spent a lot of time in the outdoors, you may have been inadvertently exposed to herbicide or pesticides, which could have caused mutations. eventually leading to a cancer diagnosis. I realize that even that is unproven as a cause of myeloma, though.
That doesn't really account for gym rats though.
That doesn't really account for gym rats though.
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Nancy Shamanna - Name: Nancy Shamanna
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Self and others too
- When were you/they diagnosed?: July 2009
Re: Being healthy (fit) & multiple myeloma
M Eriksson and M Karlsson, "Occupational and other environmental factors and multiple myeloma: a population based case-control study", British Journal of Occupational Medicine, 1992 (link to full text at PubMed)
Abstract
Epidemiological studies on the aetiology of multiple myeloma are reviewed as a background to this population based case-control study performed in an area with a high incidence of multiple myeloma. The purpose was to identify and evaluate several suspected environmental factors in relation to this disease. A total of 275 confirmed cases diagnosed in four counties in northern Sweden during four years were compared with the same number of control subjects drawn from population registries. The controls were matched for age, sex, county, and vital status. Occupations and work associated exposures to chemicals and other potential carcinogens were assessed by an extensive questionnaire that also included questions on smoking habits, residential building materials, vicinity to electrical power lines, and leisure time contact with animals, electrical equipment, and chemicals. Information obtained from the questionnaires was completed by telephone interviews when necessary. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression were performed. The study confirmed an association found earlier between farming and multiple myeloma. Some domestic animals (cattle, horses, and goats) and two types of pesticides (phenoxyacetic acids and DDT) were indicated as risk factors within farming. Exposure to electromagnetic fields, asbestos, and organic solvents were negatively associated with myeloma in this study.
The above study does find a link between agricultural chemicals and multiple myeloma. That doesn't directly relate to being outdoors jogging or cycling, but if chemicals were being sprayed, or if they were on the surface of plants that one came into contact with, that could be a factor.
In my youth, chemicals were sprayed around quite a lot, seemingly without much thought given to whether or not they could be carcinogenic.
Hope that helps!
Abstract
Epidemiological studies on the aetiology of multiple myeloma are reviewed as a background to this population based case-control study performed in an area with a high incidence of multiple myeloma. The purpose was to identify and evaluate several suspected environmental factors in relation to this disease. A total of 275 confirmed cases diagnosed in four counties in northern Sweden during four years were compared with the same number of control subjects drawn from population registries. The controls were matched for age, sex, county, and vital status. Occupations and work associated exposures to chemicals and other potential carcinogens were assessed by an extensive questionnaire that also included questions on smoking habits, residential building materials, vicinity to electrical power lines, and leisure time contact with animals, electrical equipment, and chemicals. Information obtained from the questionnaires was completed by telephone interviews when necessary. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression were performed. The study confirmed an association found earlier between farming and multiple myeloma. Some domestic animals (cattle, horses, and goats) and two types of pesticides (phenoxyacetic acids and DDT) were indicated as risk factors within farming. Exposure to electromagnetic fields, asbestos, and organic solvents were negatively associated with myeloma in this study.
The above study does find a link between agricultural chemicals and multiple myeloma. That doesn't directly relate to being outdoors jogging or cycling, but if chemicals were being sprayed, or if they were on the surface of plants that one came into contact with, that could be a factor.
In my youth, chemicals were sprayed around quite a lot, seemingly without much thought given to whether or not they could be carcinogenic.
Hope that helps!
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Nancy Shamanna - Name: Nancy Shamanna
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Self and others too
- When were you/they diagnosed?: July 2009
Re: Being healthy (fit) & multiple myeloma
In my layman opinion, diagnosis of myeloma is related to cancer "risk factors", or actually lack there of.
Myeloma was explained to me as a cancer of "bad luck" by my doctors. Most people with myeloma can not pinpoint an exact cause for their having myeloma. Something just happens in our genetic makeup to turn on those bad plasma cells.
Yes, there is the relationship to chemical exposure, but I do not think that applies to most of the people diagnosed with myeloma. in my case, I am a young women, who grew up in an urban / suburban setting, who spent summers at the cottage with my grandparents, and I work in an office in HR. I got myeloma when I was 30, diagnosed finally at 32 Stage 2 or 3 (never really was staged, I was diagnosed in the ER critical and started treatment within the week). I was not exposed to pesticides, did not go to Vietnam, etc., etc.
So, in terms of health, myeloma is not really a type of cancer caused by unhealthy habits like eating too much red meat, or smoking, the way other cancers are, but, instead, a genetic shift. That might explain why it seems myeloma patients are healthy and fit compared to other types of cancer patients.
Myeloma was explained to me as a cancer of "bad luck" by my doctors. Most people with myeloma can not pinpoint an exact cause for their having myeloma. Something just happens in our genetic makeup to turn on those bad plasma cells.
Yes, there is the relationship to chemical exposure, but I do not think that applies to most of the people diagnosed with myeloma. in my case, I am a young women, who grew up in an urban / suburban setting, who spent summers at the cottage with my grandparents, and I work in an office in HR. I got myeloma when I was 30, diagnosed finally at 32 Stage 2 or 3 (never really was staged, I was diagnosed in the ER critical and started treatment within the week). I was not exposed to pesticides, did not go to Vietnam, etc., etc.
So, in terms of health, myeloma is not really a type of cancer caused by unhealthy habits like eating too much red meat, or smoking, the way other cancers are, but, instead, a genetic shift. That might explain why it seems myeloma patients are healthy and fit compared to other types of cancer patients.
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lys2012 - Name: Alyssa
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 2010, Toronto, Canada
- Age at diagnosis: 32
Re: Being healthy (fit) & multiple myeloma
Hi Lys, I agree that the 'bad luck' factor in myeloma is there, according to recent publicity about what cancers are definitely connected to risk factors, but I keep reading about epidemiological occurrences, such as stated in the study I posted yesterday.
The reason I think that I keep on lucking for connections to the environment we live in is that, for the future, it's good to know what to avoid as far as risk factors go, and also I just want to know why we have genetic shifts. They could be just random, but how do we explain 'clusters' of multiple myeloma patients?
Personally I have met people with multiple myeloma who can relate that they were exposed to pesticides on farms, dangerous chemicals through their work, sprays of herbicides while outdoors (an accidental occurrence). I also wonder if the herbicide and pesticide sprays commonly used several decades ago contributed to my developing multiple myeloma. The chemical known as 'Agent Orange' was actually used in Canada as an herbicide for awhile, and I think I may have been exposed to that! It was used to clear vegetation from railway tracks, and they were right across the street from us at one place where we lived in BC.
However, of course that is not to say that for many patients that there is no obvious connection to the environment, and I have heard oncologists say that too! So perhaps I am a little bit off in left field about this, but I am on a bit of a quest to learn more about it. But I don't presume to know more than the oncologists, certainly.
At the very least, by avoiding carcinogens in our environment, we may also avoid having other (secondary) cancers, that have been more clearly linked to them.
The reason I think that I keep on lucking for connections to the environment we live in is that, for the future, it's good to know what to avoid as far as risk factors go, and also I just want to know why we have genetic shifts. They could be just random, but how do we explain 'clusters' of multiple myeloma patients?
Personally I have met people with multiple myeloma who can relate that they were exposed to pesticides on farms, dangerous chemicals through their work, sprays of herbicides while outdoors (an accidental occurrence). I also wonder if the herbicide and pesticide sprays commonly used several decades ago contributed to my developing multiple myeloma. The chemical known as 'Agent Orange' was actually used in Canada as an herbicide for awhile, and I think I may have been exposed to that! It was used to clear vegetation from railway tracks, and they were right across the street from us at one place where we lived in BC.
However, of course that is not to say that for many patients that there is no obvious connection to the environment, and I have heard oncologists say that too! So perhaps I am a little bit off in left field about this, but I am on a bit of a quest to learn more about it. But I don't presume to know more than the oncologists, certainly.
At the very least, by avoiding carcinogens in our environment, we may also avoid having other (secondary) cancers, that have been more clearly linked to them.
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Nancy Shamanna - Name: Nancy Shamanna
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Self and others too
- When were you/they diagnosed?: July 2009
Re: Being healthy (fit) & multiple myeloma
I didn't mean to imply that environmental issues were the cause of multiple myeloma. It's way above my pay-grade to make that determination.
What I did mean to demonstrate is that physical fitness does not prevent getting multiple myeloma. Does it help with quality of life? Absolutely. Does it extend overall survival? I think so. Does it prevent relapse? I don't think so, but I wish it did.
What I did mean to demonstrate is that physical fitness does not prevent getting multiple myeloma. Does it help with quality of life? Absolutely. Does it extend overall survival? I think so. Does it prevent relapse? I don't think so, but I wish it did.
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coachhoke - Name: coachhoke
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Apri 2012
- Age at diagnosis: 71
Re: Being healthy (fit) & multiple myeloma
Yes, and I apologize for taking this thread as not being for fitness and health. Of course, if we are not able to have that quality of life, then we might be less well than we are! Sorry, Lys and Coach Hoke. I will keep looking up studies as I have time, though. It's not over anyone's pay grade, though ... it's all out there on the world wide web for us to look into. I guess sometimes we don't like what we find out though!
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Nancy Shamanna - Name: Nancy Shamanna
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Self and others too
- When were you/they diagnosed?: July 2009
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