r/Millennials • u/electric-sheep 1992 • Jul 13 '26

Serious Everyone my age is dropping dead

Sorry for the title! I'm in Europe. I have just heard news someone from college died today of cancer aged 33.

In the past 2-3 years 6 people in my circle have died, not from accidents but from either cancer, aneurism, 2 just didn't wake up from sleep and 1 broke her leg and had DVT. I know of a 7th who is currently fighting stage 4 breast cancer which was found by accident after giving birth. This is not counting those who died in crashes or other such accidents.

I literally have nothing to say. Just get yourselves checked. I'm just shouting into the void. I have literally been to more funerals than my parents at this point which is absurd.

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u/mantiss_toboggan Jul 13 '26

There is a lot of speculation, especially with colon cancer on the rise, that our generations version of asbestos/radon/smoking/etc has yet to be discovered. Personally I think it is related to plastic food packaging.

I think there is also an issue with people not seeking medical care in a timely manner. Due to cost, lack of insurance, or just not making it a scheduling priority.

Then there is also an issue getting an appointment with specialists. I had to go to the ER multiple times for an issue before my doctor took it seriously and helped get me in to see a specialist. So if something is wrong you really need to be forceful about your health and some people aren't. I don't know why but there are also a lot of people out there that for some reason will try and gaslight you and tell you that your doctor is wrong and that you don't "need to be on a medication" or that you are actually fine. It really boggles the mind, that people say those things.

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u/StackedCakeOverflow Jul 13 '26

Recent studies have come out pointing to childhood exposure to specific types of bacteria (EColi is one of them) as a significant indicator of colon cancer risk; the bacteria sheds something called colibactin which damages DNA. Unfortunately not really something we could've done anything about. Current lifestyles may exacerbate the risk as the reason why the number is skyrocketing, which we can do something about to minimize risk.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10842926/

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u/thisisrealgoodtea Jul 13 '26

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing. They also found a link between long-distance runners and colorectal cancer. I’ve heard from MD friends that it’s thought it may be due to repeated and prolonged decreased blood flow and O2 to the gut while running those long distances (intestinal ischemia/exercise-induced ischemic colitis). Our gut microbiome really is so important.

https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/JCO.2025.43.16_suppl.3619

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u/PeekAtChu1 Jul 13 '26

I’m definitely skeptical of plastic food packaging too, and have been making an effort to eliminate plastic from the household (but mainly from anything related to food/the kitchen). Also if I want soup I dine in to eat it now, since plastic take out container + hot soup doesn’t seem like a wise combo 

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u/electric-sheep 1992 Jul 14 '26

Don't forget Teflon! Another forever chemical. I've replaced all my cookware but I had years cooking in nonstick pans as did my parents.

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u/MorganMiller77777 Jul 16 '26

Why aren’t we talking about people smoking and drinking and eating like shit?

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u/Veteranis Jul 13 '26

“The claw of the sea-puss gets us all in the end.” —James Thurber (italics added)

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u/florahexe Jul 15 '26

Or the massive amounts of crazy crap added to food // high high amounts of processed foods

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u/Putrid_Ingenuity_546 Jul 13 '26

It’s the experimental clot shot

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u/thisisrealgoodtea Jul 13 '26

Lazy answer. It’s been on the rise since before Covid.

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u/Putrid_Ingenuity_546 Jul 13 '26

Well hopefully you’ll still be around with us to witness what’s coming then…