Were you scared to death over the Ebola virus? How about West Nile? Or the Zika virus? Swine flu? Bird flu? How about Zantac causing cancer? Or SARS? And the flesh-eating bacteria? And now the Corona virus is coming from Wuhan, China. Did you know is not as deadly as the Flu? Each year 40,000+ people die in the USA because of the flu but we don’t hear about it.
Sure, some people may fall prey to those bugs, but they are/were presented to the public as if the sky was falling. The media and the medical establishment would like you to believe they are well-informed. Yes, but they never mention that those rare cases involve very sick people with poor immune systems.
There is a downside to this Chicken Little approach—erosion of public trust. This is particularly harmful when the same institutions shortchange major health problems, their roots and common-sense solutions. Take for instance our addiction to refined sugars.
There are other reasons for this sad state of affairs. You will find them if you follow the money. For instance, the infectious scares noted above invariably lead to the development of yet another vaccine. Their manufacturing and marketing throughout the world bring a pretty chunk of change to Big Pharma. Worst of all, the public gradually grows more distrustful of health scares.
My advice: do not live your life ruled by fear. Instead of fretting infections, strengthen your immune system by eating a plant-based diet and get off refined foods, especially sugar. Sadly, this type of advice is not profitable, unless you factor in the billions our society could save by prevention health problems.
References
“Neglecting major health problems and broadcasting minor, uncertain issues in lifestyle science,” JAMA 2019;322:2069. “Endless debating may damage the perception of public health… and reduce trust in science.”
“Flu poses greater threat to Americans than coronavirus, experts say,” Medscape January 28th 2020
The Hill (1/27, Guzman) reports experts say that flu poses a greater threat to Americans than the new coronavirus identified in China, but the outbreak should still be taken seriously. The article adds “still, the flu rarely gets the sort of headlines an outbreak like the coronavirus does, despite killing more Americans each year than any other virus, and Americans do not seem to be particularly worried.”
