Alright, not to turn people into paranoid, overly-cautious, hypochondriacs…. but it’s a big, crazy, world out there, with plenty of unexpected threats. From your dental hygiene to freshwater snails and even your doctor’s handwriting, there are a lot of unexpected things to look out for. It was a difficult list to narrow down (beware of vending machines, which didn’t make the cut) but here are 7 surprising things that are killing us all.
1. Road accidents
Did you know that we’re in the middle of the UN’s Decade of Action for Road Safety? Neither did I. But it’s worth knowing about, given that nearly 1.3 million people die in road crashes every year (when you work out that math, that’s a staggering 3,287 deaths a day.) That’s more people than die from tuberculosis, or cancer, and makes road accidents the 9th leading cause of death worldwide. Plus road accidents adversely affect younger populations and are one of the leading causes of death among adolescents worldwide.
2. Animals
Bill Gates made this infographic about the world’s deadliest animals, and the results are pretty surprising. It’s not big, attention-getting animals like sharks and crocodiles that are responsible for the most human deaths….the deadliest animal is by far the mosquito. Mosquitos carry malaria, which causes some 600,000 deaths a year. Poisonous snakes, dogs that carry rabies and tsetse flies are also up there. And who knew we needed to look out for freshwater snails?! They carry parasites that cause schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease that kills around 10,000 people a year.
3. Sloppy handwriting
This one’s REALLY crazy, but a 2006 report found that doctors’ bad handwriting on prescriptions kills over 7,000 people a year. Prescriptions are chock-full of abbreviations and dosage indications where one small mistake can prove fatal, and rushed doctor’s illegible handwriting isn’t helping matters. While there has been an international push for electronic and printed prescriptions to avoid the problem, you still might want to triple check every time you get a ‘script. Plus, it’s not the only time patients need to be wary of medical experts, because….
4. Hospital errors
This one’s pretty scary. Around 400,000 people in the US die every year from preventable hospital errors, a statistic that makes it the third leading cause of death in the US behind heart disease and cancer. A lot of this is due to missed or slow diagnoses, negligent care, or mix-ups with test results. And that’s just in the US. While exact numbers don’t exist, the Harvard School of Public Health found that over 43 million people are harmed by unsafe medical care worldwide due to everything from infections caused by catheters, to bedsores and hospital-acquired pneumonia.
5. Neglecting to floss
Maybe your dentist politely reminds you that “you really need to floss,” but I’m here to say that you REALLY need to floss. When you don’t floss your gums become inflamed, allowing harmful bacteria to enter the bloodstream, which leads to all sorts of issues like stroke, diabetes, and heart disease. Just take a look at this infographic, and you’ll be ready to add those extra minutes to your morning routine.
6. Alcohol
I guess Jamie Foxx and T-Pain got it right (kinda). There is a lot to blame on alcohol. In 2012, 3.3 million deaths (5.9% of all global deaths) were attributed to alcohol consumption. And it appears that number could be on the rise. Alcohol consumption puts people at a much higher risk for serious conditions, like cirrhosis of the liver, heart disease, stroke, and certain kinds of cancer. Alcohol is also linked to a lot of accidents, like drownings, falls and car accidents. Alcohol abuse is prevalent worldwide, but can have particularly adverse effects in lower-income groups, where there is insufficient quality health care and people are “less protected by functional family or community networks,” according to a director for mental health and substance abuse at WHO.
7. Inactivity
That’s right, just sitting around and doing nothing is lethal too. A series of studies found that 1 in 10 deaths worldwide is caused by physical inactivity. Neglecting to exercise and spending too much time sitting in front of the TV causes an increase in death from heart disease, diabetes, and certain kinds of cancers. New studies find that inactivity is more likely to cause an early death than even obesity. So let’s hit the gym/spin class/yoga mat/ walk around the block, because if global inactivity rates went down by just 10-20% we could save hundreds of thousands of lives each year.
There are plenty of diseases and threats to our health that are well-publicized. Everyone from pro athletes to coffee shops rep pink during October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and most cigarette brands feature warning labels right on their pack. But there are plenty of lesser-known dangers to be aware of. It’s not the peppiest of topics, but information is power, especially when it comes to health. So remember to floss, buckle-up, and, you know, beware of freshwater snails.
And go to TAKE ACTION NOW to declare your support for smart health care policies.