Lifestyle accounts for 40% of cancers

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A recent report from Cancer Research UK suggests that over 40% of all cancers diagnosed every year in the UK are caused by avoidable lifestyle choices.

Smoking, drinking alcohol, weight and poor diet are all big contributors to cancer rates. Tobacco is the biggest contributor to cancer rates and causes approximately 23% of all cancers in men and 15.6% in women.

For men, a lack of fruit and vegetables in their diet is the second biggest cause of cancer, followed by occupational hazards, alcohol and weight. However, for women, the second biggest cause of cancer is being overweight, followed by infections, exposure to sun and sun beds and a lack of fruit and veg.

Different risk factors are linked to different cancers, such as smoking and lung cancer, obesity and breast cancer, stomach cancer and salt consumption.

However, whilst some cancers such as mouth and throat cancer are caused almost exclusively by lifestyle choices, others such as gall bladder cancer are not related.

Experts are advising men to stop smoking and reduce alcohol consumption, whilst eating more fruit and veg. For women they are also advising quitting smoking and maintaining a healthy weight.

Dr Harpal Kumar from Cancer Research UK suggested that whilst leading a healthy lifestyle does not guarantee complete protection from cancer, it does help to reduce the risks.

OECD: UK 0.1% richest now earn 5% of income

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The OECD have found that the gap between the richest and poorest people in Western society is growing.

The author of their report, Michael Forster, says that the situation regarding the income gap is now at its worst, with inequality between the rich or super-rich and the poor reaching record levels.

Researchers from OECD examined income data spanning two decades. It was recorded between the mid-1980s and 2008, the year of the collapse of Lehmann Brothers bank. The data spanned 34 countries and took two years to analyse, and the report’s authors say the trends it highlights are continuing through into 2012.

OECD found that the top 10% of earners earned nine times as much as the bottom 10% worldwide. The shift in pay has partly been accredited to advancements in technology, as lowerpaid workers are less able to take advantage of new technology and may find themselves taking lower-paid jobs as a result.

Other factors that influence the pay gap are thought to be the type of professions that the rich are clustered around: many in the top earnings bracket work in highly-paid financial services jobs, such as banking, and are therefore eligible for very large bonuses. Higher paid workers also work longer hours annually, and the amount of hours they work is increasing.

Turkey, Chile, Mexico and the USA were found to have the largest divide between rich and poor. The effect of a growing gap between different income levels was also observed in Sweden, Denmark and Germany where the pay gap had expanded from five-to-one at the start of the study to six-to-one towards the end. The country with the best level of equality was found to be Slovenia, whereas in China and India, the rate of increase of the pay gap was as high as fifty-to-one.

In the UK, the gap widened more quickly than in any other country, peaking in 2000. After a brief dip, it began to widen again. The top 1% of earners in the UK have seen their income double over the last three decades.

At the end of the study in 2008, the average salary for the top 10% of earners in the UK was £55,000. Amongst the bottom 10%, it was just £4,700. Women married to low-paid men have seen their earnings gap compared to high-paid men widen from £3,900 to £10,200 over the course of 17 years.

The top 0.1% of earners in the UK were found to accumulate as much as 5% of pre-tax income.

Analysts are concerned that the extreme exaggeration in the concentration of wealth could fuel the development of a ‘super rich’ earnings bracket.

The report found that the lack of equality between rich and poor will continue to worsen as analysts predict that the British government will struggle to redistribute tax income through less privileged parts of society. Queried about up-coming public sector cuts, the OECD have urgent the UK government “not to cut social investments”.

Expat Health Cover for Overseas Workers

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Every year, thousands and thousands of people move to other countries in search of a decent living. Many of whom are migrant from countries with poor performing economies. Coming from this background, many of these migrant workers fail to appreciate the value of their good health. Often times, they simply let nature take over and do not prepare themselves for illnesses and stress-induced sickness. But it is still best to have a health cover for your medical expenses. And for overseas workers, an expat health cover is the best way to take care of themselves while working abroad.

This health coverage provides medical aid to an expat while living abroad. Depending on the terms and conditions of the medical coverage, this health cover could provide very specific medical aid such as hospitalization and immediate medical services for heart ailments (in case the patient has heart problems) or a more comprehensive plan for individuals who do not have specific medical conditions as of the moment. It could also provide for hospitalization needs, outpatient services, medication allowance, and more. But basically, all expat health insurance aims to provide people with the necessary medical aid while he is in a foreign land.

If the agency that helped you land a job abroad did not provide you with an expat health care program, you better get one for yourself. It is all the more necessary if your line of work provides a health hazard. These are occupations such as working in construction sites, working with chemicals harmful to man’s health, and working with toxic toxic materials and taking care of special wastes. These three examples are somehow extreme in nature though other work environments could also provide the same dangers when long term risks are evaluated.

If you are thinking about not getting health coverage because of the monthly cost, you better think again. Getting hospitalized for at least 7 days without any medical benefit to rely on will bring much more detriment than what a minimal monthly payment could cost you. While you primary purpose is to earn as much money for your family in your home country, you still need to protect yourself from illness. Treat this expat health cover as a necessary part of your job and you will be able to work more confidently. Remember, if you take care of yourself, you will better be able to take care of your family.

Expat health cover is the best way to protect yourself from these risk. It is also the best way to protect your family from suffering the consequences of you losing your daily income when hospitalized due to sickness. Some expat plans offer compensation benefits so that you will still get an allowance while you are being taken care of in the hospital. As for less serious cases, outpatient services are also offered by expat health care plans. Be sure to discuss this with a medical insurance provider which will evaluate your needs accurately. This will ensure that every penny you spend in paying your medical insurance in well worth it.

Importance of health insurance

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There is a wide variety of insurance that insurance companies are offering millions of people worldwide. But health insurance is probably the most significant insurance that you can ever have. In this time where multiple diseases and illnesses are ever present wherever you go, it is of utmost importance to arm yourself with a health insurance to protect you from future burden of looking for money to treat yourself from a certain illness or disease. It is a great comfort if you have the knowledge that whenever you will have to go to a hospital or if you will have unforeseen accidents you need not worry because you have a health insurance to back you up, and will take care of your hospitalization needs. This will lift some burden from your shoulders, and all you will need to do is concentrate on getting well.

Though some people are adamant in never buying a health insurance for unreasonable thinking that they are healthy enough and will never need to use hospital amenities for they take care of their health in the right and proper way, these people, as few as they are, are stubborn and have no view of the future unexpected accidents and happenings. Their pride will lead them to doom if a time will come that will be confronted with diseases or illnesses, or have some accidents. For no matter how careful a person may be, the fact remains that not all people surrounding them are as careful as they are. Many will be reckless that will result in catastrophes. If this will happen, then those people having wrong perceptions about the health insurance benefits will suffer major burdens of not enjoying a health insurance coverage.

Health insurance in many ways is beneficial to all. Especially to those who have health problems, a health insurance is very important to ensure freedom from the risks of not having enough cash or credit to pay off hospital bills. Health insurance will take care of the financial expenses so the family of the hospitalized will have no trouble in struggling to find ways to settle the bills. Though it will surely cost money to buy a health insurance, the end result will be worth it. The uncertainty of having to utilize the health insurance is a factor that is stopping some people in purchasing, for money will be spent for hospital purposes in the future, while people are doing their best to keep a healthy body, exercising and participating in a healthy and balanced diet to ensure excellent health.

Money is a monetary value that can be acquired through hard work and perseverance, but life cannot be purchased at any cost. And so to make sure that life will be protected, buying a health insurance will be the smartest way to live. A life lived peacefully in the knowledge of having a back up health insurance to take care of medical expenses is a great way to spend months and years of any one’s life, to live life to the fullest and enjoy every moment.