The cold weather months carry all kinds of hazards for people, and depending upon your exposure to them, you might find yourself dodging overlapping dangers.

Some hazards are practically unavoidable, especially if you are in school, have an office job, or spend time out and about in public.

Others are a matter of attention, and how much you (and those who affect you) actually pay.

Here’s a list of some very no-nonsense things you can do to mitigate your risk of dying in all of those scenarios.

Too many deaths occur each year due to completely preventable things. Below is a list of things that you can do to help ensure that if it really isn’t your time to go, you won’t.

1) Minimize exposure to disease. It’s cold and flu season, and even though there are dozens of new medications on the market to alleviate pain and ease symptoms, it’s better to not get sick in the first place. Washing your hands and stopping the face-touching habit are a good place to start.

2) Cut back travel to only what is necessary. One of the first things weather people observe when there is a huge storm is the number of people who go right out and drive around in it. Unless you have an emergency or your job classification is considered “essential personnel,” stay home and just enjoy the snowfall from the safety of your home.

3) Write down the name of the medication your doctor wants you to start taking. If you have to take medications, make sure that the prescription he or she just faxed to the pharmacy is actually the right one. Many medicines have names that are unsettlingly similar and you will want to make sure that you know you are taking the right one. Hundreds of people die each year due to medication errors. And while you’re at it, search the Internet for possible side effects.

4) Make sure that your doctor, or at least your pharmacist, knows everything you are taking. Many drugs interact with each other- or cancel each other out. Even something as simple as the Grapefruit Effect for people on cholesterol medications can be devastating. Again, we recommend avoiding medications if possible and seek natural solutions instead.

5) In that same vein, make sure that the medicine you are being given in the hospital is the right one, and at the right dose. Hospital errors account for over 100,000 casualties every year in the US alone, according to Centers for Medicare/Medicaid.

6) Make sure the smoke detectors in your home are in working order and have fresh batteries. Have your home tested for radon and consider getting a carbon monoxide detector.

7) Go organic, reduce the red meat, eliminate the processed food, and start exercising. Too many preventable deaths occur because of poor health habits related to diet and exercise, or the lack thereof. Having one major chronic disease (like type 2 diabetes) will automatically increase your risk of developing several others. And while you are at it- if you are a tobacco user, STOP. There is no health benefit to this addiction-it will only lead to your demise.

So there you have it, the 7 “quick-and-dirty” things you can do to save your own life. For more detailed information about tackling different diseases naturally, browse our article library by topic here…

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