Ten Ways We Get The Odds Wrong Analysis

In the article “Ten Ways We Get the Odds Wrong,” written by Maia Szalavitz, she questions why people fear cancer but not heart disease. The Center for Disease Control states that “Heart Disease is the number one cause of death in the United States” (“U.S. Deaths From Heart Disease, Cancer on the Rise”). Everyday life has many risks that we do not see. For instance, eating one cupcake can eventually lead to your death, whereas only “38.5 percent of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer of any site at some point during their lifetime” (“Cancer of Any Site”). We underestimate the little things in life that can skulk up on us. As a teen, my aunt, Doris Davis, did not make rightful decisions. At the time she did not know that those choices would affect her life in the future years. From the time she took her very first puff of a cigarette she became addicted. Along with this she admired fried foods and
Earlier in her life through genetic testing the doctors basically knew she would eventually get it. After beating the battle with breast cancer my grandmother suffered from not only blood clots in her legs but also her lungs. The numbers are not on the side of the survival rate for Pulmonary Embolism. If you happen to survive, like my grandmother did, the body becomes congested which can lead to future problems. For her this lead to having congestive heart failure. A doctor at WebMD states that “Heart Failure affects nearly six thousand americans, and is also the leading cause of hospitalization in people older than age 65” (Congestive Heart Failure and Heart Disease). The doctors have now made her as comfortable as she can be until her day comes. My grandmother has faced both cancer and heart disease, but heart disease is going to be the one that kills her. With this experience being so personal to my life it really makes me wonder why people fear cancer but not heart