A sick idea

Why do people get sick? There is probably no good single answer to this question. The standard answers are as follows:

• Genetics. If you have a specific genetic code, you will get a genetic disease. Some examples are: Tay Sachs, Down's Syndrome and Charcot-Marie-Tooth, and there are many more. The degree of penetrance can be variable, however, and sometimes can be modified by environment (i.e., Lorenzo's Oil)
• Acquired. Something happens during our lives and we get sick. It could be trauma, aging, contagion, toxic exposure, or internal disturbance.
• A mixture of genetics and acquired.

So, the thinking person asks "How can I avoid or delay getting sick?" DocBrain believes that you need to consider probability as well as luck. Luck can be good or bad. Probability is the way of looking at what increases or decreases the chance of getting sick. While only 15% of cigarette smokers get lung cancer, it is still many times greater than the risk for non-smokers. If this statistic leads you to not smoke, you have adjusted your probability, but of course not your luck. At present, there is no known way of adjusting luck, unless you believe in "lucky charms".

Lastly, you can choose how to deal with adversity when it strikes. Evidence suggests that a positive attitude can be beneficial. Certainly, it can lead to prolonged quality of existence.