Scientists Study a New Risk Factor – Take a Guess

A new risk factor? Wait, what exactly is a “risk factor? Good question.

You don’t need to be an epidemiologist to understand risk factors. Let’s do a quick review of what a risk factor actually is.

Basically, a risk factor is any condition, characteristic, exposure, or behavior that increases the likelihood of developing a disease, injury, or other adverse health outcome. Some are modifiable and some are not.

Risk factors can be:

• Biological, like gender, age, and genetics
• Behavioral, like smoking, excessive alcohol use, drug use, poor nutrition, reckless driving
• Social, like poverty, lack of education or housing, and inadequate access to health care
• Environmental, like air pollution, unsafe drinking water, unsafe streets, crime-ridden neighborhoods, exposure to toxic substances
• Occupational, which is commonly considered part of ‘environmental”, but I break it out here for obvious reasons.

Readers of Confined Space are well-versed in occupational risk factors.  They include exposure to chemicals, dusts, gases, and fumes; unguarded cutting and grinding machines; noise, vibration, and temperature extremes; moving vehicles; repetitive motion, poor workstation design; lack of personal protective equipment; long work hours; and psychosocial risks like workplace stress, harassment, job insecurity, or working alone, with money, or with disturbed or angry people, any of which can lead to assaults by patients, clients, customers, or former or current co-workers.

AND THE NEW RISK FACTOR IS (DRUM ROLL….)

Corporations!

Researchers at UC/San Francisco’s new Center to End Corporate Harm say that corporations themselves are the leading vector of disease. Corporate-driven risk factors are major contributors to chronic diseases, like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and Parkinson’s.  In addition to the well-recognized risks of chemicals, plastics, and fossil fuels, corporate-driven risk factors include: the  barrage of tempting and addictive ultra-processed foods that contribute to this nation’s obesity epidemic and an opioid epidemic driven in part by aggressive marketing practices by pharmaceutical companies.

But, you may think, what’s so new? Haven’t corporations always posed risks?  Right again! (This was a trick question.) Corporations have waged a decades-long assault on government regulations, agencies, and policies that protect public health, prioritizing the health of their own bottom lines instead.

Corporations have waged a decades-long assault on government regulations, agencies, and policies that protect public health, prioritizing the health of their own bottom lines instead.   

What’s new is that the Center is popularizing another risk factor category: corporate-produced risk.  Researchers at the new Center are trying to address this new risk factor by studying tactics industries use to promote and protect their lucrative health-harming products, while at the same time undermining the science and regulations that help protect our health and wellbeing. By shining a spotlight on industry conflicts of interest, financial ties, and lobbying activities, the Center aims to hold industry accountable for its leading role in causing the chronic diseases that exact an enormous toll on our lives, our families, our communities, and our entire economy.

The Center notes a sharp rise in chronic diseases in the U.S. from 1990-2021 from 28% to 283%, including cancer (175%), diabetes (283%), Parkinson’s (133%), and dementias (75%), leading to what the scientists say is an “industrial epidemic” of disease. YIKES!

And here’s another disturbing statistic: the fossil fuel industry spent $130 million lobbying in 2023; environmental groups together spent $30 million!  Environmental and public interest groups just don’t have the resources to compete with industry’s lobbying blitzkrieg.

Bottom Line

Hats off to UCSF for launching a focused, science-based effort and approach to describing what can be called the “commercial determinants of health and for exposing and countering industry tactics to hide the harmfulness of their products.”

As Center Director Tracy Woodruff says, “If we’re really going to address the major risk factors of disease, we have to address how corporations are causing disease.”

“If we’re really going to address the major risk factors of disease, we have to address how corporations are causing disease.” –Tracy Woodruff

It reminds me — and likely many of you — of our friend David Michaels’ groundbreaking book Doubt Is Their Product, published back in 2008. (And its 2020 sequel, The Triumph of Doubt).) If you haven’t read them, you can read reviews here and here.  Michaels described how business interests take advantage of scientific and regulatory processes to obscure the need to address the occupational and environmental problems that they caused. The problems have only mushroomed in the intervening years.

And don’t let anyone tell you that you’re just weak, and that your unhealthy weight, lack of exercise, and chronic health conditions are all your fault. Sure, you have some control.  But it’s hard to limit or just say no to those tasty, addictive snacks and ultra-processed foods that sate our cravings, simplify our food prep, and bombard us with advertising and easy accessibility.

And it’s pretty much impossible to match the resources and reach of the corporations that produce these unhealthy foods.  I highly recommend that you follow and amplify the new Center’s work. And let’s add Commercial to the bulleted risk factor categories above.

And I close with a comment and a  question: Our new Secretary of HHS claims he wants to MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) by tackling the problem of chronic disease. But will he have the courage (and freedom) to tackle ALL of its risk factors?

Call me skeptical.