I read an interesting book review the other day of cancer epidemiologist Geoffrey C. Kabat’s “Getting Risk Right: Understanding the Science of Elusive Health Risks.” In it he explains that when it comes to our health, we confront two broad types of risks:
“Voluntary risks” – stem from our own behaviors, like smoking, carrying too much weight, not exercising enough, eating and drinking the wrong things, the meds we take, etc.
“Involuntary risks” – things we have little or no control over, like environmental impacts on the air we breathe, water we drink, food we eat, etc.
Kabat says we tend to underestimate the “voluntary” risks and overestimate the “involuntary” ones. He points out that it “plays into the universal human fear that we’re imperiled by forces beyond our control.”
The point he wants to make is that given the rush to publish any research that raises questions about possible risks associated with things like cell phones, genetically-modified foods, and the environment often involve “serious simplifications or distortions,” he says. So we need to take these studies with a grain of salt, pending more research to confirm or refute the findings.
With input from our medical providers and family, it pretty much leaves it to us to decide what risks we voluntarily choose to take by what we eat, pills we take, and how fit we stay. In my own case, there are things I could and should be doing, and some I shouldn’t. Why is that?
One answer I’ve been seeing a growing focus on is the role of family in encouraging us to do the “healthy” thing. This may also be tied to the proliferation of mobile devices and using technology to strengthen our social community. Our social networks make it possible now for families to send encouraging thoughts and reminders whenever and wherever they are. In the end we can each other help change behavior and equally control both voluntary and involuntary risks to our health.
Something to think about.