{"id":603,"date":"2001-09-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2001-09-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/mind-body-cancer-heart-disease-mad-cow-oh-my-should-you-worry-about-scary-diseases\/"},"modified":"2001-09-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2001-09-09T00:00:00","slug":"mind-body-cancer-heart-disease-mad-cow-oh-my-should-you-worry-about-scary-diseases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/mind-body-cancer-heart-disease-mad-cow-oh-my-should-you-worry-about-scary-diseases\/","title":{"rendered":"Cancer, Heart Disease, Mad Cow, Oh My! Should You Worry About Scary Diseases?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Whats scarier than mad cow disease? Nothing, really—except illnesses that are 10 billion times more likely to hurt you. Think about it this way: Your risk of getting mad cow is much lower than your odds of winning the Powerball lottery. In short, its not likely to happen. What could happen? In her lifetime, the average woman has a 1 in 2 chance of developing osteoporosis and a 1 in 3 chance of heart disease.<\/p>\n “Were afraid of the new, the mysterious,” says Marc Siegel, MD, a clinical associate professor of medicine at New York University Medical School who wrote False Alarm: The Truth about the Epidemic of Fear.<\/em> “But were afraid of the wrong things.”<\/p>\n Want to put your fears in their place? Heres help: We compared your risks of developing certain illnesses this year to the odds of some quirky scenarios—and found plenty of good news. Keep in mind, too, that if you take certain measures (you know, exercise, eat right), youll change your odds … for a lifetime.<\/p>\n your risk of<\/em> Heart disease <\/strong> | 1 in 42<\/strong> Next Page: Your risk of Osteoporosis<\/a> [ pagebreak ]your risk of<\/em> Osteoporosis<\/strong> | 1 in 101<\/strong> your risk of<\/em> Breast cancer<\/strong> | 1 in 680<\/strong> Next Page: Your risk of E. coli<\/a> [ pagebreak ]your risk of<\/em> E. coli<\/strong> | 1 in 4,100<\/strong>
Odds of Condolezza Rice becoming President in 2008: 1 in 50<\/em>
About 2.9 million women will be hospitalized for a heart disease–related problem this year, but the vast majority will be elderly people whose risk factors are relatively high. Many more younger people will dutifully lower their risks because heart disease is one of the most preventable ailments on the planet. “The key is lifestyle,” says Lynne M. Kirk, past president of the American College of Physicians.
Real-world advice:<\/strong> Hit the gym; walk; load up on fruit, vegetables, and fiber; and quit smoking (or dont start). These simple acts are enough to lower your risk by a factor of six. Caveat: If you blow them off, your risks will go up fast as you age. The lifetime risk for the average 40-year-old woman (the one who needs to lose weight, exercise more, and eat better) is higher than 1 in 2! For more on keeping your heart healthy, go to Health.com-heart<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Odds that Dobby, the beloved house elf, will die in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: 1 in 100<\/em>
The risk of an osteoporosis-linked hip fracture is higher than the risk of developing breast, ovarian, and uterine cancer combined. Shocked? Osteoporosis is that common. Now the good news: Drugs for people at risk—or those who have osteoporosis—help limit fractures by actually helping build new bone. And if you need surgery for a fractured joint, you can now have a just-approved procedure called hip resurfacing (the bone inside the hip joint is reshaped and a protective chrome cap is inserted on top) instead of a hip replacement. Physicians say the caps last longer than traditional hip replacements and offer greater stability and range of motion after surgery.
Real-world advice:<\/strong> Youve heard it before, but it works: Lift weights to keep bones strong, and load up on calcium (more than 90 percent of women do not get enough) and vitamin D<\/a>, which boost bone mass and prevent bone loss. Supplements? You dont need them if your diet includes plenty of dairy, broccoli, almonds, and fortified foods and drinks like orange juice.<\/p>\n
Odds of drawing a full house in a poker hand: 1 in 700<\/em>
Its always hard to accept when someone you know gets breast cancer. And because a womans lifetime risk is 1 in 8, it seems to happen a lot. So it may seem callous to compare breast cancer to a card game, especially now that Elizabeth Edwards, wife of presidential candidate John Edwards, has made us even more aware of how tenacious the disease can be. But heres the truth: In 2007, only 178,000 of the 122 million adult women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer—0.1 percent. Plus, breast-cancer<\/a> rates are actually dropping by 2 percent a year. And if the disease is found early, odds are youre going to live a long time. Nearly 90 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer<\/a> are still alive five years later.
Real-world advice:<\/strong> Cut your breast-cancer risk by sipping no more than one alcoholic drink a day (alcohol, by far, is the easiest risk factor to change). Women who have more than two drinks daily increase their risk by 21 percent, according to a study from the British Journal of Cancer. Carolyn D. Runowicz, MD, past president of the American Cancer Society and a breast-cancer survivor, says scientific evidence also suggests you should exercise a few times a week, maintain an ideal body weight (a body-mass index of about 19 to 25—to calculate yours, go to nhlbisupport.com\/bmi<\/a>), breastfeed your babies, have yearly mammograms starting at age 40, and avoid hormone therapy.<\/p>\n
Odds youll name your daughter Maude: 1 in 4,300<\/em>
We doubt there are any women named Maude in your family—or that youll get sick from E. coli. Of course, its not impossible: Recent outbreaks of a particularly dangerous form (most E. coli is not harmful)—which can cause stomach pain, diarrhea, kidney failure, or even death—were traced to contaminated spinach sold in salad bags and lettuce served in fast-food restaurants. In fact, more than half of all outbreaks of foodborne illness are linked to restaurants, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Still, E. coli is probably rarer than you think. The spinach outbreak, the largest in years, resulted in 199 cases and three deaths (out of more than 300 billion meals eaten annually in the United States). E. coli infections are on the decline, too, perhaps because of testing thats done before food is eaten.
Real-world advice:<\/strong> The bacteria come primarily from farm animals (and veggie plants fertilized with manure). To avoid getting sick, cook meat to at least 160 degrees, wash meat thermometers between temperature tests, and rinse fruits and vegetables. Also, wash your hands, knives, and cutting boards with soap and hot water, and rinse well. For more food-safety tips, visit Health.com-foodsafety.<\/p>\n