How Are You Going To Die?

Death is one of the few things we can count on in life. Death and taxes, as they say.

But hopefully, death won’t visit until you’re in your twilight years. After the kids have grown, left home and have families of their own. After you’ve imparted all your wisdom, like stilettos and booze don’t mix. After you’ve had a chance to feed your grand kids an ice cream for dinner, watch them at their first football game or ballet concert, and visit them at school on Grandparents’ Day.

Even then, you don’t want to put out the welcome mat and invite the grim reaper in for a cuppa. But, are we inadvertently doing this with our sedentary lifestyle and love of meat pies and chips?

Diet and lifestyle are risk factors for many of the diseases that are killing us.

We all need a night on the couch with a bottle of wine and a block of chocolate now and again..

Here are the top ten reasons of Australian women die:

And ask yourself, are you willing to give up a long life by living too much of the good life?

1) Coronary heart disease

A problem with your ticker, caused by fatty deposits collecting in your arteries and blocking the blood flow. Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in many western countries, and can lead to angina (or chest pain), heart attacks and heart failure.

The good news is that a few lifestyle changes can help keep your ticker ticking. Exercise, weight, smoking, diabetes, lowering your blood pressure and cholesterol can all make a difference.

2) Dementia and Alzheimer’s

The symptoms of dementia, and particularly Alzheimer’s, are well known. The grandma who can’t remember her son’s name, who reads the same book over and over again, and who gets distressed and sometimes violent because she doesn’t know where she is or who you are. It’s a disease that makes us laugh out loud and cry bitterly because we can’t prevent it or cure it.

More than 300,000 Australians live with dementia and this number is expected to grow.

3) Cerebrovascular disease

In layman’s terms stroke and other diseases caused when the brain’s blood supply goes astray. Like coronary heart disease, the risk of developing cerebrovascular disease can be reduced with lifestyle changes. So, watch your weight and your diet, get active, give up the ciggies, temper your drinking and do some meditation to reduce your stress levels and your chances of dying from a stroke. Sounds exhausting.

4) Chronic lower respiratory disease

Mainly emphysema and chronic bronchitis, which are primarily caused by smoking. In 1991, almost a quarter of Aussies smoked daily. But this has gradually decreased with measures such as advertising bans, excise increases, restrictions on smoking in public and health warnings on packages. Today, 12% of Australians admit to smoking daily.

5) Trachea, bronchus and lung cancer

Cancer, you knew it would be on the list, and as it turns out lung cancer is the head honcho of the cancer gang. It’s sneaky and cowardly, with a nasty bite. Lung cancer scores fifth place on the list of Australia’s most common cancers, but it’s the biggest killer.

6) Breast cancer

How many women are in your inner circle? Counting your mum, sisters, aunts, girl pals, maybe eight? Then one of you will likely be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in your life. One in eight Australian women will be. It’s the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Australian women, and the second most lethal right behind lung cancer.

7) Diabetes

A frightening epidemic. Diabetes is a serious condition that can lead to blindness, kidney failure and limb amputations. If that doesn’t scare you, it also increases the risk of stroke and heart attack. An estimated two million Australians, that’s Perth’s population, are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the most common form. The number of sufferers is skyrocketing, and for many (but not all), it’s due to lifestyle and diet.

8) Colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus cancer

A fancy way of saying bowel cancer and other cancers of your booty. These cancers reap their fair share of havoc. Thankfully there are screening tests for Australians turning 50, 55, 60 and 65, which is a nice way of saying they look for blood in your poo.

9) Heart failure

When your ticker gets tired and can’t pump enough blood around, it can cause serious problems. But treatment is possible, depending on how bad it is, and may include medication, changes in diet and lifestyle, and sometimes surgery.

10) Blood and lymph cancer (including leukaemia)

Another cancer, 34 Australians are diagnosed with blood and lymph cancers every day.

What other leading causes of death among women do you know of?