Saturday, November 12, 2005

Random facts about risk

About 14 people a year are killed world wide by sharks

About 150 people a year are killed world wide by falling coconuts
By that metric being in the water is safer that being on the beach!

About 100 people are killed every year in the USA by lightening strikes.
(However, more than a 1,000 are struck and survive, which is amazing because the average lightening bolt delivers more energy than a large nuclear power plant over the same time interval.)

About 291 people are killed in the USA by prion diseases (like CJD) every year.
(The cause of most prion disease is a natural mutation in a brain protein. To date no one on record in the USA has contracted and died of a prion disease they got from eating American beef; however several people a year die of prion disease contracted by eating squirrel brains.)

A few more sobering statistics

About 14,000 people a year are killed in the USA by HIV/AIDS

About 36,000 people a year are killed in the USA by Influenza

About 40,000 people a year are killed in the USA by car accidents
(Compare this to less than ~300 people killed per year in the USA by commercial plane crashes.)

About 54,000 people a year are killed in the USA by Alzheimer’s

About 553,000 people a year are killed in the USA by cancer

About 931,000 people a year are killed in the USA by Cardiovascular Disease

About 2,500,000 people a year die in the USA alone

Lest that make you sad, 4,300,000 people a year a born in the USA alone!

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