We often have the tendency to harbor fears of dying from a lightning strike or a shark attack, avoiding the thought of being affected by heart diseases or cancer, for example. But unfortunately, the most common way to die is because of medical affections that we always hear about and hate to think that could affect us.
Sometimes these causes of death are inevitable, but other times it’s up to how you take care of yourself and your health. You might want to start thinking about changing your lifestyle or getting hospital cover, for your own peace of mind and safety. Here are some of the most common causes of death in the world, in recent years:
Heart disease
This is the leading cause of death worldwide for both men and women, but more than half of the people who die from heart diseases are men. When you think about heart disease, you can think of multiple conditions one person might have, such as narrow arteries, which creates a high risk for heart attack or stroke.
Cancer
According to the American Cancer Society, the leading cause of death from this disease for both males and females, is lung and bronchus cancer. Good news is that the uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells can be prevented in a substantial proportion, but still cancer is a leading cause of death in the world. The World Cancer Research Fund has estimated that a third of cancer cases are related to being overweight, sedentary or to having a poor nutrition.
Accidents
Accidents represent the leading cause of death for people below age 44 in the United States. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to avoid them, because truth to be told, anything can happen at any given time no matter how careful you are. Of course, there are some prevention measures that you can take related to road safety, but sometimes it’s just not up to you.
Alzheimer’s Disease
According to CDC, this condition is the most common form of dementia. Characterized by problems with memory, language and thinking overall, Alzheimer’s can make it incredibly difficult to perform everyday activities. Being one of the top 10 most common causes of death, Alzheimer’s is the only one of them that cannot currently be cured, prevented or slowed. Usually, symptoms of this disease begin to occur around age 60, and the risk of the disease increases with age.
Diabetes
This condition is characterized by abnormally high blood sugar levels and it can sometimes lead to: kidney failure, blindness, heart disease or even amputation of the lower extremities. Type 1 diabetes accounts for only 5 percent of all diagnosed cases, while the rest of them are Type 2 diabetes. The good part is that weight loss and and increased physical activity can actually prevent type 2 diabetes.
All of these are medical conditions that affect thousands of people everyday and a lot of times lead to death. Whether you are involved in an accident or you have a bad medical history in your family, sometimes diseases are unavoidable and we must do everything we can to take care of our bodies and stay positive no matter what.
