This past week saw a rally march through downtown in support of labeling genetically modified food or organisms.
I have written about this before and there was excellent editorial in the Citizen about the rally. Arguing against genetically modified organisms is a self-defeating proposition. Pretty much everything that we eat has been genetically modified.
But that is just the point, some would say. We eat all of this genetically modified food and it is killing us. It causes cancer.
Ironically, the statistics say just the opposite. We are the healthiest and longest living generation of humans that the world has ever known. Both the average life span and the longevity of humans are at all-time highs.
Still, there is this sense that we are dying or in danger of dying.
In part, this sense of dread has been brought about by the very campaigns that are meant to fund the research that will allow us to live longer. Commercials arguing for the support of breast cancer research are littered throughout the media. It is hard to go a day without seeing one.
Yes, we should be doing research to find ways to defeat breast cancer. And colon cancer. And prostate cancer. But the constant media bombardment results in cancer appearing much more prevalent than it is.
Further, there are some fundamental flaws in the overall approach in the "War on Cancer". Cancer is not a singular disease nor is it transmitted by a vector in the same way as other diseases such as pneumonia or influenza.
The prevalence of cancer is primarily a consequence of the fact that we are living longer. Cells eventually lose their capacity to reproduce with fidelity and a tumour can result.
That said, in high income countries such as Canada, ischaemic heart disease along with stroke and other cerebrovascular disease account for 24.3 per cent of all deaths. The leading cause of cancer related deaths is cancer of the trachea, bronchus, and lungs which account for 5.9 per cent. Lung cancers tend to be associated with lifestyle choices such as smoking or due to breathing second hand smoke where second smoke includes automobile and industrial emissions.
Worldwide, the numbers aren't much different for heart disease - 236 out of a 1,000 deaths or 23.6 per cent.
But cancers of the trachea, bronchus, and lungs don't really register accounting for only 9 out of 1000 deaths. In low income countries, shorter life expectancies mean that people don't live long enough to develop cancers despite a diet that includes genetically modified organisms.
So, when people argue against genetically modified organisms because they lead to cancer, the evidence isn't there. We have always used genetically modified organisms and people have always died of cancer.
But the causal link between the two is tenuous at best.
I know that this just doesn't sound right. After all, almost everyone I know has lost a loved one or two to cancer. It certainly seems like it is killing us at the same time as there has increased use of pesticides, herbicides, GMOs, and artificial preservatives.
But the causal link isn't there.
Consider that in 1900, the top ten leading causes accounted for 1100 deaths per 100,000 population in the United States in any given year. By 2010, that number had dropped to 600 because people are living longer.
In 1900, the number one leading cause of death was pneumonia or influenza at 202.2 per 100,000. Number two was tuberculosis (194.4), followed by gastrointestinal infections (142.7). Heart disease in all its forms only accounted for 137.4 or 12.5 per cent of all deaths.
Cancer was number eight on the list at 64.0 deaths per 100,000.
If you move forward to 2010, the number of deaths per 100,000 from heart disease has risen to 192.9 or 31.2 per cent of all deaths. But pneumonia and influenza have dropped to 16.2 per 100,000 and both tuberculosis and gastrointestinal infections have dropped out of the top ten entirely. They account for fewer than 12 deaths per 100,000 population annually.
Cancer in all forms is now number two on the list at 185.9 per 100,000 of population. This is a dramatic rise but only if taken out of context. The longer life span and the decrease in other death rates have resulted in cancer now being a prominent cause of death.
However, cancer is not being cause by GMOs. Genetic defects in people, unhealthy habits such as smoking and drinking, industrial causes such as asbestos, longer life spans, yes, but not because of the food that we are eating.
We live at a time when there are more people alive on the planet than at any previous point in human history. We live longer and healthier lives. And we owe much of this to agricultural research that has led to better crops and healthier livestock, genetically modified organisms included.
