By Emma Sturgis
When you live each day without encountering any obvious threats to your health, it’s easy to forget a few basic dangers which can result in serious complications. Some of the most common, routine things most people do each day can have serious effects on their health.
Sitting in the Sun
While common, frequent sun tanning can be very damaging to the overall health of your skin. Even repeated use of tanning beds can be a threat. The damage caused by UV radiation, via either the sun or a tanning bed, can lead to wrinkles, looseness, brown spots and skin cancer.
Consuming Alcohol
Excessive and binge drinking can both have dangerous effects on health. Alcohol causes harm to several areas of the body, leading to a number of serious illnesses. Heart complications can include stroke, cardiac arrhythmias and cardiomyopathy. The most well-known effects occur in the liver, including fibrosis, cirrhosis, hepatitis and fat accumulation. Drinking can also lead to cancer development in the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver and breast.
Not Buckling Up
Some people refuse to take seat belts seriously, thinking they will avoid a crash. Seat belts actually reduce the risk of fatal injury by up to 50 percent for those in the front seat. According to a Surrey injury lawyer from Yearwood & Company,backseat passengers are 44% more likely to survive a car crash when wearing a seat belt than unbuckled passengers. For larger vehicles, such as SUVs, seat belts are 73% better at preventing fatalities.
Not Getting Enough Sleep
With busy schedules and hectic work lives, people often miss out on getting adequate sleep each night.The body repairs itself during sleep, so missing out on it regularly will eventually have an adverse effect on your health. Side effects of chronic sleep deprivation can include increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, depression, decreased cognition, accidental falls and memory loss.
Staying Still
Many people have jobs that require them to sit for hours at a time without breaks. Just like long flights, this activity can have serious side effects. One of the more familiar of these is thrombosis, occurring when a blood clot develops in a vein. If portions of the clot break away and travel through the bloodstream they may end up in the lungs, leading to pulmonary embolism.
The potential effects of everyday activities are rarely considered. Simple lifestyle changes can significantly reduce the chances of developing such serious health problems.