Correct about a pro-tobacco state and part of the cancer puzzle along with poor access to health resources due to poverty and a high percentage of people living with cancer-causing issues such as smoking and obesity. On top of that, the highest regions of Kentucky with cancer are the Appalachian
Coal-Mining Region such as the southeastern areas of the state.
A large proportion of residents in the Appalachian region rely on private wells for drinking water,
which puts residences at risk of exposure to trace elements from natural or man-made sources (e.g., arsenic, chromium, and nickel), which are known or suspected lung carcinogens as run-offs from coal-mining.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4137033/
In addition, I read somewhere back in 2015 on a billboard in Kentucky while driving to visit my youngest brother...the billboard said Kentucky had the highest prevalence of cigarette smoking as a warning for some anti-smoking campaign.
Simply, a lot of different variables cause the state of Kentucky to have the highest rates of cancer in the United States beyond just the toxins in the water.
On a daily basis, 800,000 residences are being poison by their well-water because it contain "forever chemicals"...toxins at 5x about the safe levels in the state of Kentucky.
Another interesting fact concerning being mixed-race (French - mother from France/Indigenous American - father from South Dakota)...
Indigenous Americans in Kentucky have lower cancer rates than the average for the United States while Indigenous Americans in South Dakota have higher cancer rates than the average for the United States. Both traditionally live in areas where well water usage is high but only one area has a higher prevalence of cigarette/cigar smokers...South Dakota.
In comparison to the rest of the United States...cigarette smoking had declined during the Pandemic.
During the Pandemic...the rural areas had higher cancer rates in both states (Kentucky & South Dakota) while the urban areas had lower cancer rates...these statistics are in step with the rate of cigarette smoking during the Pandemic.
Cancer overall in the United States...
Death rates for the leading causes of cancer death – lung, colorectal, pancreatic, and breast cancers – are higher in rural areas. Disparities in death rates between rural and urban areas are particularly large for lung cancer and relatively small for breast and pancreatic cancers.
Just as strange, vaccination rates were lower in rural areas than in urban areas. I mention this because the person (BKR88) who started this thread strongly believes vaccines are the cause of increasing cancers in the United States.
Why low vaccination rates in Rural Communities?
Due to the lack of providers, rural Americans often live over 10 miles from their closest healthcare facility and do not always have access to reliable transportation. Additionally, rural communities also have a larger proportion of people who are uninsured and underinsured.
In addition, people facing cancer and survivors who live in rural communities are more likely to have limited incomes and to die from cancer than their urban counterparts. They also experience serious financial hardships in comparison to their urban counterparts.
In the United States, the rural communities consists of about
+50 million people.
wrbtrader