What Worries You?

…by Gloria May, M.S., R.N., CHES          

     Reports of airplane crashes, shark sightings, earthquakes, terrorist attacks, vehicle recalls, murder, and general mayhem would have us believe it’s a pretty scary world out there. And as we have only so much time each day to worry, we need to prioritize.

• In a given year, the odds of dying in a plane crash are said to be about one in 400,000; over a lifetime, one in 5,000. The odds of dying from heart disease are one in five.
• The chances of ever being attacked by a shark are one in 11.5 million. The odds of succumbing to cancer are one in seven.
• There’s a one in 3300 chance of dying in a natural disaster. The odds of dying from a stroke are one in twenty-three.

 So, it seems that whatever time we devote to worrying would be better spent on the likely rather than the far-fetched.

 The American Medical Association has published a list of nine factors most harmful to us. (In other words, the real enemies of our health and mortality.)  Tobacco, poor diet/physical inactivity, and alcohol in excess are the top three. Following those are microbial agents (which cause flu and pneumonia) and then “pollutants” which means bad things in our water, air, and food, exposure to asbestos, lead, mercury and the like, and medical overdoses. The last four bad actors are motor vehicle accidents, gun incidents, careless sexual behavior, and the use of illicit drugs.

 As far as disease-specific risk factors are concerned, statistics reveal that:

• For heart disease (the number one killer in the United States and worldwide), the major contributors are:

1. Tobacco use
2. High cholesterol
3. High blood pressure
4. Physical inactivity
5. Obesity/overweight

• For  cancer, they are:
• And for stroke:

1. Tobacco use
2. Obesity/overweight
3. High fat, low fiber diet
4. Alcohol in excess
5. Certain workplace toxins (like asbestos, benzene, cadmium)
6. Some hormones  (estrogen), viruses (HIV), even some bacteria

1. High blood pressure
2. Tobacco use
3. Heart disease
4. Diabetes (a disease which has its own set of risk factors including obesity, sedentary lifestyle, high fat, low fiber diet)

Is what we really should be worrying about becoming clear? It should be noted that there are people who are so plagued by overwhelming anxiety that they see life-threatening hazards around every turn. (“Nervous Nellies” my grandmother used to call them.) To attempt to counter their fears with science and statistics is for naught until their emotional issues are addressed through therapy or medication or both.

But for those whose “worry list” is just a little too influenced by the media and not enough by science, it’s a good idea to have a conversation with a health care provider concerning the real risks to life and then (here’s the tough part) to devise a plan to reduce the odds of succumbing to them.