What health risks do you take?

Risks come in different forms.  You can break them down into categories related to where you perceive possible dangers. For example, consider mental, emotional, hypothetical and physical.

In August 2006,  Yusuf, a global heart specialist at McMaster University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, reported 9 risk factors account for 90% of heart disease in every population on Earth.  This physician perceives most of the associated risks to be or relate to physical ones;

Abdominal obesity 
Alcohol
Bad cholesterol/good cholesterol
Diabetes
Eating fruits and vegetables
Exercise
High blood pressure
Psychosocial stress
Smoking
 
More general health risks
Under-nutrition continues to be a contributing factor in more than half of all child deaths in developing countries.  This issue has been linked to lack of awareness and adequate education.
In contrast, obesity is becoming a global problem - estimated to affect more than one billion adults world-wide.  (~500,000 people in North America and Western Europe die from obesity-related diseases each year).

Dr Christopher Murray, who has been responsible for World Health Organisation(WHO) reports, has said: "Globally, we need to achieve a much better balance between preventing disease and merely treating its consequences.

"This can only come about with concerted action to identify and reduce major risks to health."

No turning back?

Life is full of opportunities to learn. Some experiences are are perceived riskier than others. 

Sir Edmund Hillary became the first man to summit Mount Everest (with Tibetan sherpa Tenzin Norgay).  However, not everyone would wish to accompany such a perilous expedition to climb a dangerous mountain.  If you did join the team, and decided turn back, could you bring yourself to give up th mission and do that? Would you take the risks involved in retracing your steps in uncertain weather?

Consider anyone who decides to backpack though a foreign country, or more challenging still, to backback through many unfamiliar countries.  To take the risk of stepping outside what you know can be a scary thing for many people. You would need to find maps, navigate through places you've never been, do things as simple as find food, a toilet, a safe place to sleep, when you don't necesarily speak the local language, dress like the local people, or share their perspective on life or the world. This would require courage and the willingness to learn new things.

Before you travel anywhere, you would likely evaluate risks. Should you stay where you are or should you go discover someplace new? If you do decide to take risks to step outside your comfort zone, you would likely consider things like potential threats to your health and safety.  Could you even qualify for health insurance? Would you wish to have any? Could you afford the trip? Do you have responsibilities that you could afford and you would be willing to leave behind?  Some of us would choose not to turn our backs on mortgages, family and other priorities.

What kinds of incentives would motivate you to re-think the life you know and consider it something you could leave, at least for a time? Some people would abandon theri lives at a moment's notice with few belongings.  Other people require extensive planning in advance and would take much luggage.  The nature of the travel destination and purpose of your trip would influence what you think you would need.

Then again, it's possible that visiting foreign places may not even appeal to you. You may find it risky to live where you do everyday.  The idea of getting into a car and driving somewhere involves a certain risk. 

Risk is relative to what we know, to what we don't know, and to what we have the inclination to learn.

Strategy

"I'm always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it." - Pablo Picasso

Many great ideas have been lost because the people who had them were afraid to be laughed at. How often have you avoided taking a risk because you were afraid to fail? I like to learn to play with various parts of a situation. This enables me to reframe the risks, measure the pros and cons if you will. I imagine that I add, remove, combine and simplify aspects of the overall situation. I also find humor in my circumstances, even if I'm about to float up into the air in a precarious hot air balloon with a clausterphobic friend who's afraid of heights.

Theodore Roosevelt said, "No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause."

Throughout our lives, we all face uncertainty and risk at every turn. Yet, we differ greatly in how we perceive and react to our circumstances. Some of us plan ahead, and have the ability to see the larger picture. Others among us lash out or react impulsively, which can get us into trouble or have disastrous results. We all define strategy, some openly in the form of goals and plans, and some covertly or subconsciously, without thinking. When should we take risks? That is the question. We can calculate the probability of worthwhile results. Sometimes we may simply follow instincts. 

Sun Tzu's Art of War implies that each level of conflict represents increasing cost (mental, physical, emotional), as well as increasing resources (such as time). The longer you're at odds with yourself about a choice, or the longer you contemplate taking a risk, the more likely you won't wish to act or you'll change your plan. When have you changed your mind about taking risks?

Teenage risk-taking trends

Teenagers take risks.  This is a key part of learning and personal growth. Personal choices allow individuals to assert independence and explore limits.  Developmental psychologists believe that unless individuals explore risk-taking, there is no growth.

Although risk-taking is experimental, some adolescents will be motivated by poor self esteem and lack of confidence.  Impulsive behavoiur and recklessness are strategies used by some adolescents to gain peer approval. The main problem for young people is their seeming inability to evaluate the potential risks and consequences of everyday behaviour . 60% of adolescent deaths are caused by accidents – many of these are the result of risk-taking.

Thrill-seeking, the desire to impress one’s friends, feelings of invincibility and the search for new experiences are all motivating forces that drive teens to act without concern for consequences or without even being able to fully evaluate the potential risks. For example, if a teenager engages in risky behaviour and doesn’t suffer the expected consequences, they are likely to deduce that the behaviour is not risky at all and that adult evaluations cannot be trusted.

This is often the case with drug and alcohol use. Teenagers don’t see drinking, drug use and driving as potentially risky in the same way as adults. For them, the risk is in social rejection – not being seen as cool - if they don’t do what their friends are doing.  Sometimes one risky choice can lead to others. For example, drinking alcohol to intoxication will impair judgement and may result in unwanted sexual activity or violence that would otherwise have been avoided.

Are you attracted to a risk-taker?

Risk-taking is not a quality that interests everyone. You likely have your own opinions about what is or isn't worth taking a risk. When you consider your personal life, you may make generalizations about the sort of person who appeals to you.

Consider this University of Maine (Orono) study:

Men thought the opposite sex would be attracted by risky stunts such as bungee jumping and fast driving, a study of 48 men and 52 women found. But in contrast, women said it was a turn-off, claiming they preferred more cautious people for partners.

However, the team from the University of Maine in Orono said those who took risks for the thrill were likely to be respected by fellow men. Lead researcher Dr William Farthing said: "Men thought women would be impressed by pointless gambles, but women in fact preferred cautious men."

However, Dr Farthing said women were attracted to men with a high-status, so if the risk-taking meant a man was respected by his friends they could then become attractive.

What is your reaction to risk-takers?