If it turned out that cancer, that horrible disease that kills nearly half of us, was almost entirely due [pollution/eating crabs/wearing shoes/fluoridation of water sapping and impurifying our precious bodily fluids] then that would be an unpleasant truth. That's what the original "research" on mummies seemed to be claiming.
If in fact it turns out that cancer is unavoidable if you live long enough, that's a much less unpleasant truth.
Right, the worldwide cancer death rate is a lot lower than it is for those of us in rich countries because poor people are too busy dying of other things like malaria and malnutrition.
My "almost half" was an exaggeration, yes (and a totally unnecessary one, nobody needs to be convinced that cancer is bad) though if you also take into account the fact that heart disease disproportionately kills the overweight, if you're not overweight and in a rich country your chances of dying of cancer might well be approaching 50%.
If it turned out that cancer, that horrible disease that kills nearly half of us, was almost entirely due [pollution/eating crabs/wearing shoes/fluoridation of water sapping and impurifying our precious bodily fluids] then that would be an unpleasant truth. That's what the original "research" on mummies seemed to be claiming.
If in fact it turns out that cancer is unavoidable if you live long enough, that's a much less unpleasant truth.