Diabetes affects 24 million Americans and an increasing number of children. It can lead to limb loss and heart attacks. Yet people are more afraid of snakes and flying.
In an online survey by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), people revealed far greater fear of events that are much less likely to affect them. Percentage of respondents who fear:
Being in a plane crash: 16 percent
Snake bites: 13 percent
Being hit by lightning: 5 percent
A shark attack: 4 percent
Getting a disease: 5 percent.Further, when asked specifically about diseases, 49 percent reported a fear of cancer, and only 3 percent cited a fear of diabetes.
Ironically, one in ten adults reports having been diagnosed with diabetes, while just 6 percent have been diagnosed with cancer, according to the ADA.
“While the impact of a shark attack, lightning strike or plane crash may be more immediate, the reality is, the consequences of mismanaged diabetes can have equally severe consequences that include loss of limbs or even death,” the ADA stated. “In fact, 491 deaths related to commercial aviation accidents happened in 2007 whereas diabetes contributed to 233,619 deaths in 2005.”
Snakes make for more exciting Reality TV.
Considering how “fun” air travel is these days, I’m not surprised.
What does surprise me is how surveys like this are reported as news. The public’s opinion on things where public opinion doesn’t matter is, by definition, meaningless.
Election polls? Interesting. What the public puts odds on? Meaningless.
How many of these people think it’s all going to end on 12/21/12?
That’s a great photo! Love it.
I wonder what the chances of children being killed by a self inflicted Uzi gunshot wound to the face?
According to my calculations, one is infinitely more as risk if dad is an NRA member versus not.
“Hold on kid. We’re almost there.” Captain Oveur
#2 – Only if the child leans to the left. And in that case, its justified, because we don’t need more angry hacks like you.
I fear flying through O’Hare more than being stripped searched by a Bosnian Border Guard.
@#1: Actually surveys like this help us determine how humans perceive probability and risk. Why is that important? Nature, through evolution have weeded out those who perceived risk from danger in a wrong way. So, in a similar way as we look at dolphin skin or whale fins or other naturally evolved technology to improve our own, looking at the natural sense of risk assessment will help us create better artificial one and apply it to medicine, trading,… Fact that results look bizarre makes it even more interesting and important to find out why and how…
#5 QB
I thought they used Bosnian border guards at O’Hare…
#7 Paddy-O, I wish.
Stood for 1 1/4 hours a couple of weeks ago in the security line at O’Hare. Luckily I was flying business class so I got to use the “short” line or else I would have been screwed.
#8 A few years ago I would buy a one-way ticket at the last minute, and I’d get shunted to a special line where they’d wand you but it was MUCH shorter than the lines for regular people.
Put me down in the 4% who fear sharks. Probably because I have been “approached” twice and could have been bitten without seeing them coming and using my dive stick to push them away. Years after I stopped diving, I had a panic attack in my swimming pool. Post Trauma reactions do happen.
Meanwhile, I have flown 100’s of times and had 3-4 major incidents. No fear at all because of training.
But back to fear. I suspect the fear involved in each circumstance is not the same and was undefined by the survey as well.
Shouldn’t we “fear” all things so as to come in out of the rain when thunder is near?
#6 – A reasonable reply, but I disagree. For this survey to legitimately analyze risk the risks would have to be better understood.
The best a survey like this give us is the perceived probability of risk. Your nature/nurture analysis only works if the perception is based on some form of reality, and I highly doubt Joe The Plumber knows a thing about how plane crashes happen, or how lightning travels to the ground, or what invites a shark attack.
What I expect is that Joe receives a lot of information (newspaper, television, Internet) and thinks he has a good understanding of the topic being presented to him, when in fact he has no actionable knowledge…
…somewhat like the majority of people who post on blogs. No wonder its so easy to own them.
As far as that “being bitten by a snake” thing is concerned, I can’t help but think of the line “Doc says you gonna die”.
People fear the high profile shocking deaths. I don’t know why that is. However, I would also add that diabetes is a fairly manageable disease. I’ve had type I for 20 years and, as yet, have no complications.
People also can’t do math. Why do people look at me funny when I drive a hundred miles and go hiking in bear country. Do they not know that the drive is the dangerous part? Yes. They do not know that.
For those who can do math, fear traffic accidents. That’s the real probability, not terrorism, not bird flu, etc.
This article obviously is meant to ridicule such a fear of flying, by comparing it with extreme health problems. But in reality, these health problems are invisible, until they strike. Flying in a plane, is far from that. If the airline industry really wants to solve the fear problem, it has to redesign the insides of their planes. Not use these stupid news items (studies?) to counter it. Make the planes seem a lot less like a metal sausage tube of human meat. Forget about cramming as many passengers into it as possible, to cut costs. Even get rid of the windows altogether. The passengers don’t need to be reminded of what’s happening outside, at 35,000 feet! Try to make the takeoffs and landings as jolt free as possible. Give the passengers lots of distracts to help them forget that they’re defying gravity. Yes, that’s all quite costly stuff. But it’s the only way to compete with the trains and buses. People have been use to horizontal travel for a century. Speeding it up, over the decades hasn’t increased the fear of it. But vertical movement, in mass travel, hasn’t been so widely accepted. Only a small percentage get their kicks from soaring in a plane. So disguise the experience if at all possible. Replace the windows with LCD displays of a movie or natural scenes.