Western Style: A Recurring Theme?

What does it mean when the risk of developing colon cancer is associated with a ‘Western’ diet and lifestyle?

• ‘Western’ diet -> defined as high in red meats, fatty products, refined grains and desserts
  • The study found that those who closely follow this diet were more than 3x likely to relapse than those whose diets were at the opposite end of the scale
• Authors stress that this study is observational and does not provide conclusive proof

“… people treated for locally advanced colon cancer can actively improve their odds of survival by their dietary choices”

Jeffrey Meyerhardt

“Maybe the message is it’s never too late to change your diet” 

Andrejs Avots- Avotins

• Reflections/questions:
  • What does this mean in context of socioeconomic status and other factors? Is it always feasible to change diet and improve outcomes/avoid cancer risks? How does diet interact with other factors?
  • Emphasis on individual lifestyle choices rather than broader contexts
    • Would this place blame on individuals rather than systems? (specifically, blaming individuals in the study who ascribe to the Western diets)
  • Taken out of context, this study could’ve been shown to others with the basis that diet is a very big factor that causes cancer rather than is associated with it (and still needs more research)
    • Boyer’s reflections in The Undying: The media, research, the Internet, and seemingly everything is telling cancer patients to try different things and to attribute survival on select few factors dependent on choice rather than to look at cancer more broadly at a societal level