moneyblog

Obesity and cancer

Obesity is a factor in cancer, this article explains how that works - and the changes necessary to reduce risks. My favourite part of the article is where they explains the action of a drug trial:

Prof Lydia Lynch said: "A compound that can block the fat uptake by natural killer cells might help.

"We tried it in the lab and found it allowed them to kill again.

"But arguably a better way would be to lose some weight - because that is healthier for you anyway."

You mean a better diet and more exercise? Dammit, I was hoping for a pill!

Not all change is progress...

The depressing spread of views and choices that harm health and well-being is evidence of the fact that not all change is progress. Perhaps the trend towards increasing scepticism about vaccines is a reflection of a disillusionment with government. Private health insurers, being seen as standing apart from government and medicine, may have a role to play in promoting vaccination. Graphic by Our World In Data:

 

Fatal Crash Rate

Here is a 'What if?' will self-driving cars arrive before I lose my licence due to age-related infirmity?

Business Owners’ Increased Use of Technology Creates New Gateways for Cyber-Criminals

As digital regeneration of business gathers pace, cyber attack risks increase.

'Connected technologies like artificial intelligence, drones, robotics or wearable sensors have the potential to be game-changers. But business owners beware, connected technologies also increase the chances of a cyber attack because they give cyber-criminals new access points if not properly protected. Research shows that 91 percent of business owners use one of these technologies, but 48 percent are unconcerned they will increase the likelihood of a cyber-attack.'

Click here to read more. Once upon a time business premises in the real-world had to be significantly hardened due to the presence of cash in almost every shop, office, and factory. Today, that risk has shifted away (excepting high cash shops, and certain types of activity like bars) towards scams, phishing, ransomware, and more.

How likely is death in a plane crash?

Of course, it depends. The main factors are whether you fly on commercial airlines, or military transports, or choose a wingsuit and jump off a cliff. If you chose the first option, it's pretty safe:

 

I still remember the "passenger accidental death benefit" rider that used to be offered by some insurers. In fact, flying on a commercial airline is one of the safest things you can do. Riding your own motorbike one of the more dangerous.

The "data for discounts" idea is dead

According to this article from thinkadvisor.com some consumers are willing to let insurers track them with real-time monitoring in a bid to keep premiums down. Click here to read more. As regular readers will know I have little love for the idea that client data supplied by the consumer has to be provided in return for a premium discount - but it is a persistent theme in the thinking of some life insurers.

In fact, consumers are happy to pay you to take their data, and give it back to them with some insights. That's the model the wearables market operates on. Fitbit, through the cost of the hardware, in effect charges you for the privilege of handling your data and handing it back to you as health tracking information.

It is a challenge to insurers. In one sense, they are right. Why would a consumer hand over their data unless there is some value in it for them? But they are wrong to think solely in terms of premium discounts. It actually isn't hard to work out what consumers are more interested in and where insurers can contribute. The value is living healthier and longer - two things most people profess to want. Insurers, unlike the celebrity instagram accounts and fad diets have a lot more credibility when they contribute to this subject. That is the value to leverage.

Bad Economic Policies Kill More Children than War

An article from Human Progress discusses recent report findings outlining that Venezuela has a higher mortality death rate than war-torn Syria and has been since 2008. Click here to read more and explore the data using a new tool.

The female of the species (should be protected like the male)

In this article, head of national accounts from iPipeline, Stephanie Hydon says 'Women are significantly behind men when it comes to financial resilience'. Although she believes there is a definite move in the right direction there is still plenty to be done as she discusses here.

We have noticed gender differences in insurance offered by financial advisers too. You might be interested to see the chart below which compares the gender of quotes for some of the most commonly quoted benefit combinations. Can it really be that men require more than two times as much income protection, life, trauma and waiver than women? Or about 40% more life insurance? Or are women being insured for many fewer benefits in a mis-allocation of the insurance budget?  It is possible that with the stage at which insurance is applied for, perhaps more women at working at home raising children then men - explaining some of the IP differences, but the gap appears large, and persistent even in life cover, that it suggests another explanation.

Most of us are wrong about the world...

...and that is a good thing. Max Roser charts the disconnect between what is actually happening, and what people in countries like ours think is happening. Link. This time with a focus on infant mortality. Hans Rosling, in his book (co-written with Anna Rosling Ronnland and Ola Rosling) explains the reason why infant mortality is such a good metric to focus on. Infants are so fragile that their successful journey in the first year of life tells us all sorts of things about the provision of healthcare, warm housing, nutrition, to effectively daily hygiene.

How is the world doing in its fight against vaccine preventable diseases?

Our World in Data has this article discussing the number of deaths relating to immunisations. 

Below is a chart showing the decline in children deaths by cause. The article also has a chart showing the deaths caused by vaccine-preventable diseases.