Media Hysteria - What People Fear VS What Will Actually Kill Us

It may seem morbid, but we need to be aware of the lies and white-lies the media perpetuates as facts.  If you took a poll of popular opinion, I bet you would find a lot of people out there sorely misinformed about the likely cause of their eventual demise.  This is because the media feeds on hysteria, and there are often subversive reasons for a particular disease or condition to be put in the spotlight.  There is an old saying in journalism that if it bleeds, it leads.  There is another, just as pertinent saying that if you want to know the reason, you need to follow the money trail.

So the first list is just my opinion based on the media hype I am seeing, but...

The Top 10 Things The Media Tells Us Will Kill Americans:

1. Aids
2. Breast cancer
3. H1N1 (swine flu)
4. Murder by home invasion
5. GMO-laden food
6.West Nile virus
7. Avian influenza (bird flu)
8. Being bombed or beheaded by terrorists
9. Cell phone radiation
10. Gluten

This 2nd list is factual.

The Top 10 Things Which Will Actually Kill Us:

1.  Heart disease
2. Cancer (with breast cancer coming in 3rd after lung and colon cancer!)
3. Chronic lower respiratory diseases
4. Stroke
5. Accidents (including gun and auto accidents - the #1 killer of people under age 44)
6. Alzheimer's disease
7. Diabetes
8. Influenza and Pneumonia (90% of the deaths from this occur in people age 65 and older)
9. Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis (kidney disease)
10. Intentional self-harm (suicide)

Some interesting facts:

• A woman's overall lifetime risk of dying from breast cancer is 3%.  The lifetime risk of dying from heart disease is a whopping 20%.
• Some lists name hospital infections and errors as the 4th leading cause of death.  I'm guessing this would include some cases of pneumonia.
• Excessive alcohol use is responsible for approximately 10% of deaths among people aged 20-64 years, and is often a factor in homicides, suicides, falls, drownings and fires.
• Smoking accounts for 30% of all cancer deaths - and that's not just lung cancer!  The #1 thing you can do to lower your overall cancer risk is to quit smoking.
• Alcohol and birth control pills are group 1 carcinogens (cancer-causing agents) which means they are verified causes of cancer.  Source.
• The least likely person to murder you or your family members is a stranger. 
• A pregnant woman is more likely to die from homicide or heart disease than from maternal-related reasons.
• The world's mortality statistics look very different from US statistics!
• Some dispute the qualifications for diagnosing people in the 3rd world with HIV.  There is some evidence that malnourished people are being massively overdiagnosed with this condition in order to receive more monetary help.
• Despite media hysteria to the contrary, a child is extremely unlikely to be kidnapped by a stranger, and even less likely to be murdered by one. Source.

Note that AIDS is not in the top 10 at all in the US, and neither is West Nile.  Shark deaths, lightning strikes, and homicide are also not on the list.  So what should we all be freaking out about?  HEART DISEASE!  And, as mothers, accidents (particularly car accidents) since this is the #1 cause of death of children, surpassing kidnapping and murder by a mile - so put your cell phones down!  I hope you all found this educational!


Sources: CDC.gov, Cancer.org, www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets

[Sidenote: I am fairly certain all my mentions of death and terrorism will earn this a visit from the NSA.  Hey guys!  How's it hanging? Lol]

Let's Talk About Sex...and Grammar!

I don't consider myself a grammar nazi, but I do dislike it when words are used inappropriately.  For example: not many people know that "provocative" simply means to provoke a reaction.  It does not necessarily refer to the sensual.  And when we are talking about finding out the SEX of your baby, a lot of people use the word "gender".  This is incorrect.  Gender refers to a person's societal role.  The correct use of the word gender would be something like, "My nursery closet is full of gender-appropriate clothing for my baby."  But when we are referring to actual body parts, the correct term is sex.

Apparently this offends people!  I will say it again: sex sex sex!  I'm sorry!  But this is the proper term for what is between your baby's legs.  If you wanted to find out their gender, you'd have to get a better ultrasound so you could see whether they are indeed wearing a pink or blue onesie in there! Haha!

It just amuses me that people go to such great lengths to avoid saying a simple word.  It's just a word.  It won't bite you!  So go ahead and say you are finding out your baby's sex, and annoy all the prudes with your correct word usage!