Early Screening
On August 28th, Chadwick Boseman passed away from colorectal cancer (CRC) – he was only 43. This is concerning considering the following:
Routine CRC screening is unanimously recommended by the American Cancer Society (ACS), the CDC, the National Cancer Institute, and the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) for average-risk persons aged 50 to 75.
How is this relevant to our topic? Not only has the IARC labelled shift work as a probable carcinogen, there are a couple studies linking shift work to CRC specifically.
These data suggest that working a rotating night shift at least three nights per month for 15 or more years may increase the risk of colorectal cancer in women.
Risk for rectal cancer significantly increased with shift work duration, suggesting that long‐term circadian disruption may play a role in rectal cancer development.
So, when Peter Attia posted an article on this topic, he had my attention. Among the topics discussed:
- Why, of the top 5 deadliest cancers, CRC is the easiest to catch early
- The benefits and risks of early screening
- Available screening methods and which is best
- What to ask your endoscopist
There’s no reason to panic. The evidence linking shift work to CRC is limited. Still, depending on your age, ethnicity and family history, it may be worth thinking about.
Colorectal Cancer Screening | Peter Attia
Risk Reduction
What if, based on your risk profile, early screening doesn’t make much sense? You still want to reduce your risk of getting cancer. The Canadian Cancer Society provides some sound advice:
Workers doing night shifts should make healthy lifestyle choices that include eating well, being active, maintaining a healthy body weight, not smoking, limiting alcohol consumption and getting enough vitamin D.
Tips to reduce your risk from shift work | Canadian Cancer Society
Early Retirement
From a strictly financial perspective, early retirement doesn’t make much sense. Your retirement funds have to support you for a longer period of time, and many financial tools work best if you wait until your late 60’s to retire.
However, there are other things to consider and, ultimately, early retirement may be the better option.
It’s easy to save for retirement if you live below your means.
Retiring early doesn’t mean you can never again work for income if you need it.
There are many financial tools that can be leveraged in early retirement.
Early retirement gives you time to enjoy life’s simple pleasures.
I’ll add one more for us shift workers: Early retirement reduces our risk of poor health and early death.
Is Early Retirement a Good Idea? | The Simple Dollar
Mistakes Were Made
Speaking of retirement, are you getting the most out of your investing dollars? Failing to take full advantage of a 401k will hurt, and possibly delay your retirement. Follow the link for some common mistakes to avoid.
Top 401k Mistakes That Hurt Your Retirement | Financial Samurai
More on Mistakes
One of the most frustrating things about human psychology is our propensity to repeat the same mistakes over and over.
Why don’t we learn our lesson the first time? Italian psychologist Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini provides a few explanations:
Inattention, distraction, lack of interest, poor preparation, genuine stupidity, timidity, braggadocio, emotional imbalance, ideological, racial, social or chauvinistic prejudices, and aggressive or prevaricatory instincts.
Morgan Housel, author of the book The Psychology of Money, adds a few more worth thinking about.
Common Causes of Very Bad Decisions | Collaborative Fund
Learning Speed
In a now famous “tweet storm” titled How to Get Rich (without getting lucky), angel investor Naval Ravikant offers many words of wisdom, including this:
Reading is faster than listening. Doing is faster than watching
A recent study lends some scientific support to his second sentence.
This observation means the brain is primed to learn with a bias that is pegged to our freely chosen actions. Choice tips the balance of learning: for the same action and outcome, the brain learns differently and more quickly from free choices than forced ones.
For deeper learning, you may want to avoid a “just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it” approach.
We Learn Faster When We Aren’t Told What Choices to Make | Scientific American
Stay healthy-
Jason Glenn