<p>My grandmother died at 54 of a heart attack. My Dad died at 53,also of a heart attack. He was a smoker and grew up on the typical southern diet and had a somewhat stressful job.</p>
<p>My husband, a hardware engineer/engineering management guy, died of lymphoma at age 49. He always ate healthy, think pritikin/south beach influenced, low fat, little sugar, no salt. Lots of vegetables, very little red meat. He ran 5 miles a day, when he wasn’t biking 30 through the hills. He also played tennis, but did not consider that exercise.</p>
<p>He went to UC Berkeley. I have a friend whose husband has a circle of friends who have lost 3 out of 10 of their members to cancer before the age of 50. They all are Cal grads, within a few years of my husband.</p>
<p>Sadly, even here we can see the high incidence of “cancer”…</p>
<p>15 of the posting: Cancer
2 of the posting: Heart attacks</p>
<p>My rare family members who died young died because of suicide (He had a long history of serious mental illness) and AIDS.</p>
<p>UCD:
That’s awful about your H. My condolences. </p>
<p>Greenery:
There are sure to be certain professions with cancer risk. The (now) obvious one of exposures to X-Rays, certain chemical exposures at chemical processing plants, possibly semiconductor manufacturers and other types, coal dust exposures, even astronauts would likely be at a pretty great risk if they stayed in space longer due to the radiation. There’s the possible issue of soldiers being exposed to agent orange and other chemicals, the times when they were exposed to radiation from atomic bomb explosions, etc. There’s been talk that airline pilots are at risk due to their extended and repeated exposure to radiation at altitudes.</p>
<p>Some hospital professions like being a worker around the equipment that gives off radiation seems like they’d be possibly at greater risk depending on how ‘really’ protected they are from the repeated exposure. </p>
<p>It makes you wonder about other areas - living in a city with dense traffic - breathing all that exaust all the time - especially for runners running in the city; and some mechanics who are repeatedly in contact with oil/grease on their hands; Mike Rowe on the ‘Dirty Jobs’ show (how can he NOT end up with lung cancer?); tannery workers, etc.</p>
<p>And some people say that we’re all at some risk of developing tumors from cell phones (but the jury is still out on that one), issues from drinking from plastic water bottles, etc.</p>
<p>Grandparents: eye infection (F, 1920, age 32, housewife), stomach cancer (M, 1941, age 42, not sure what he did), heart attack (F, 1983, age 79 - lots of fried foods, high blood pressure, overweight but active, office work), old age (M, 1959, age 101, poor farmer & preacher, but in the time before a lot of chemicals being used).
Parents: pneumonia, Alzheimers (F, 2001, age 79, beautician and office work); still kicking (M, age 91, combat veteran WWII, office work).</p>
<p>I sure hope I inherit from the long-lived in my family.</p>
<p>
Maybe someday you can change your CC moniker to ‘over90’.</p>
<p>ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad: “There’s been talk that airline pilots are at risk due to their extended and repeated exposure to radiation at altitudes.” - That is a new perspective…didn’t know about this… interesting!</p>
<p>Concerning the cell phones, I think it certainly has to cause some bad effect in the brain. In my opinion it is common sense…but probably studies need to confirm it. Good subject for another threat…</p>
<p>My maternal grandmother died at age 42 of cervical cancer. She was a homemaker with no known risk factors, non-smoker and no weight issues. She died before I was born.
My mother died at age 54 of pancreatic cancer. No known risk factors either.
I have outlived both of them, my mother by 1 year.
My sister in law (no blood relations) died of colon cancer at age 44.</p>
<p>3 generations of men in my family, maternal grandfather, father and brother were widowed young.</p>
<p>Over90 - helping great grandchildren navigate the college search through CC! Now, if I could just get my children married . . .</p>
<p>Re my mom’s early cancer – no job-related risks, but she was deprived of food and suffered hardship while hiding during World War II during her adolescent years. It’s hard to know what effect deprivation and fear/stress might have had on her health.</p>
<p>Mom had breast cancer 42 (died 52)-nurse in a TB hospital(daily chest x rays WITH every patient)
Aunt (momsSister) breast cancer OR nurse
Aunt (moms other sister) inflammatory breast cancer age 36 secretary
My sister breast cancer 40 also a nurse on an oncology floor handling chemo agents daily and worked nights another risk factor</p>
<p>All the 3 brothers are alive and well no cancers all are currently in their 70s
We feel the hospital exposures were at play in our family
No breast cancer gene BRCA detected in sister or myself</p>
<p>Infectious diseases, labor camps and concentration camps were the major causes of premature deaths on my family tree…</p>
<p>More recently, bad diets took away 2 of my male relatives…</p>
<p>One aunt and one cousin died of cancer and possibly bad mix of medications; it’s never been very clear to me. An uncle died of an autoimmune disease–believe he may have been 60. Didn’t know any of these relatives well, so am unclear on the details. The uncle lived in CA & seemed to have a very high-strung disposition. The aunt died when I was a young child, so never heard many details. I believe the cousin also lived in CA, but have not heard many details about her either. She was grown & moved away from HI whenI was still quite young.</p>
<p>Samiamy, as a pathologist I would say they just haven’t found the exact mutation your family carries - not all of them are identifiable in the current BRCA testing, some may not be in the BRCA gene or it may be a BRCA mutation that is unique to your family. Having said that your Mom’s work history may have played some role in her disease. That’s just too strong a family history to ignore!</p>
<p>Reading this thread is making me feel very fortunate. The only thing that could remotely be described as a “premature death” would be my grandfather, who had an aneurysm in his late sixties. My family tree, even going back four and five generations, is full of people who lived into their 80s and 90s. On my father’s side, my great-grandfather (who died in 1890) had 17 children and three wives (in succession). He married for the third time at age 75 and had two children with that wife, after his second wife died in her late 60’s (that’s my great-grandmother). The first wife died fairly young, in her 40s–but that’s not so young for the mid-1800s.</p>
<p>I suppose my father’s death at 70 could be consider premature, but he worked hard at getting that lung cancer; he smoked three packs a day of Chesterfields from age 10 to age 67.</p>
<p>three packs a day?
I don’t see how you can even smoke that much unless you had a vacuum for lungs.</p>
<p>my dad died at 45.
Didn’t smoke though.</p>
<p>EK–EVERY photo I have of my father includes a cigarette. My mother smoked too, but she quit when she was 75. Too late to prevent her emphysema, but she lived with it until 86.</p>
<p>Mother died last year at 102 years. She was walking and alert up until two months prior to death. Every night from age 50 on she drank 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar mixed with 1/4 water and 1 teaspoon of honey. She took no medications until 2 months before she died at home. Mother was never overweight, never smoked and drank occasionally. As a Swede, she ate fish a lot, especially herring. She died of cancer but it’s type or source was never determined. She died painlessly, quickly and quietly.</p>
<p>thecheckbook said “Every night from age 50 on she drank 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar mixed with 1/4 water and 1 teaspoon of honey.”</p>
<p>It remind me my grandpa who said that a glass of brandy was good for the health. He also believes in rum, lemon and honey…later he was diagnosed with diabetes…</p>
<p>thecheckbook… the cider vinegar and honey sounds healthier…</p>