As I was mindlessly scrolling through the depths of the internet, I stumbled upon a question that piqued my curiosity: “What causes death more than people realize?” The answers were eye-opening and shocking. Here are the top-voted causes of death.
1. Driving Drowsy
One noted, “It’s more dangerous than drinking while driving. I make sure I pull over to the side of the road when my eyes start drooping. Insurance companies don’t like hearing, “I was twenty minutes from home.”
Another confirmed, “There’s a Mythbusters episode where they proved this. One stayed up all night, the other got drunk, and they drove a closed course under police supervision. Driving tired was the loser on that one.”
2. Tripping
A third Redditor volunteered, “Tripping. On average, around 17k people in the US die annually from injuries incurred after tripping and falling.” Thirty-four thousand others agreed that tripping is an overlooked cause of death.
3. Stairs
“Stairs cause 20 million severe injuries each year and at least 200.000 death from the consequences of the fall,” one confessed. “Both my grandparents died because of a fall.”
4. Untreated Dental Issues
One noted, “Untreated dental problems. A cavity left untreated can lead to heart attacks and strokes.” A second added, “I struggle with this myself, my siblings, and our parents. Depression, poverty, shame, and fear are the hurdles regarding dental neglect.”
5. Mozzarella Sticks
“Mozzarella sticks. Statistically, it’s one of the most choked-on foods,” one claimed. Another shared, “My son choked on one at a restaurant, and I had to perform the Heimlich maneuver on him. I dug down his throat for that cheese, which kept stretching—one of the most horrifying moments ever.”
6. Street Fights
“Street fights,” answered another. “You watch Hollywood blockbusters and MMA fights and think you can do it too. I’ve seen stories of a guy minding his own business and getting rocked on the side of his head. It disconnected his spine, and he was dead before he hit the ground.”
7. High Blood Pressure
“High Blood Pressure,” volunteered another. “It sneaks up on you, and you don’t know about it or don’t care, but it’s the underlying cause of many deaths.
The real danger here, all symptoms of high blood pressure are considered minor (such as frequent headaches) until it’s done severe damage. The only way to tell is to keep it monitored regularly.”
8. Untreated Infections
“Untreated infections. Your body will become septic, essentially killing itself by trying to kill off whatever disease one has,” suggested one.
A second shared, “My dad died from strep throat that went septic and into his blood. He thought he just had a bad sore throat like everyone else in February in the Midwest always has. Instead, he died an unimaginable painful death that started from a scratchy throat.”
9. Shoveling Snow
“Shoveling snow. I have two family friends who passed from heart attacks associated with shoveling the snow,” confessed one. A second added, “Seems dumb for people who live where it’s a part of regular life for six months a year (like me in Alberta). I never thought about that until my dad had a heart attack while shoveling.
Too much exertion, too quickly, can trigger a heart attack — especially in the cold — when our arteries tend to constrict, which can drive up our blood pressure.”
10. Influenza
Finally, someone replied, “Influenza. Just regular old flu. Many people ignore it thinking it’ll go away on its own. Globally the number per year is usually between 300k and 500k. In the U.S., it can be anywhere from 12k to 50k per year.”
We hope you enjoyed this discussion discussion about ways people die that others do not realize as often as it does. This article is inspired by the internet and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of My Life, I Guess.
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