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Will you get a critical illness?

Well if you’re currently fit and healthy it’s impossible to tell if you will be diagnosed with a critical illness.

However what we can do is look at the statistics for the population of the UK as a whole. This gives some worrying data.

In fact 1 in 3 men aged 30 will have a stroke, cancer or heart attack before the age of 65, and the same fate will happen to 1 in 5 woman of the same age. (Source: ERC Frankona 1998).

Cancer

According to the Imperial Cancer Research Fund found in 1999, 1 in 3 people in Britain will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their life.

The most common form of cancer is breast cancer. In the year 2000 there were just under 36,000 news cases diagnosed. This represents 30% of all cancers in woman.

Around 11,500 women died from breast cancer in England and Wales in 2002. It is the most common cause of cancer death in women.

Furthermore 1 in 9 women will develop breast cancer at some point in their lives.  

Known risks for Breast Cancer in Woman

Most of the known risk factors for breast cancer relate to a woman’s reproductive history such as early first period, late first pregnancy, low parity and late menopause. Oral contraceptive use, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), obesity and increased alcohol consumption also increase the risk.

Four in five new cases are diagnosed in women over the age of 50, with the peak in the distribution of new cases in the 50 to 54 age group. This peak is largely a result of the breast screening programme because many of these women will have been screened for the first time.
Source: Office for National Statistics

Heart Disease and Stroke

Circulatory diseases (which include heart disease and stroke) have remained the most common cause of death in England and Wales over the last 90 years among both males and females, (with the exception of 1918 to 1919).

Male death rates from circulatory disease are higher than those for females, (around 60% higher). Within these, death rates from heart disease were higher than stroke among both males and females.

Mortality Rates by age and sex

Mortality rates by cause of death vary with age and sex. In 2002, for young people aged 15 to 29, mortality rates were highest for injury and poisoning (41 per 100,000 population for men and 10 per 100,000 for women).

In adults aged 30 to 44, the major cause of death differed for men and women. Injury and poisoning was the leading cause of death for men (45 per 100,000 population) and cancers the leading cause of death for women (32 per 100,000 population).

For those aged 45 to 64, cancers were the leading cause of death among both men and women , with mortality rates of 245 per 100,000 for men and 218 per 100,000 for women. Injury mortality rates among men aged 45 to 64 were lower than for those aged 15 to 29 and 30 to 44.

In older people aged 65 to 84, circulatory diseases were the leading cause of death, for both men and women, although rates for all the causes were higher than those at younger ages.

The highest mortality rates were in people aged 85 and over, with circulatory diseases having the highest rates followed by respiratory diseases and cancers.
Source: Office for National Statistics

Are you likely to be off work due to illness for a while

The probability that you will suffer a serious illness that means you will be off work for six months or more during your working life is - 1 in 16.
(Scottish Provident/MORI research 2003)

British Heart Foundation figures, for example, show that less than half of the 262,000 heart attacks suffered in the UK each year actually kill their victims. The remaining heart attack victims each year live on, but may find themselves with sharply reduced earning power or needing much more help at home. It is this need that Critical Illness cover aims to tackle.

ARE YOU A RISK-TAKER, OR AT RISK?

Men are considered more likely to be risk-takers, and so are more inclined to ignore symptoms, as they do not like making a fuss, or being told what to do. They also tend to worry they it might have an adverse affect on their jobs if the are absent due to illness or doctors appointments, which are difficult to fit into the working day.

Statistics indicate the fact that men have good reason to make an effort to take more care of themselves. The chances of a man aged between 20 and 40 dying before he reaches 65 is one in five and the likelihood of becoming critically ill before the age of 65 is one in four.

Over 8,000 men over the age of 50 are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year.

It is also a fact that men are more at risk of heart attacks earlier in life than women, but generally choose to ignore the threat, thinking that the likelihood is years away. Their reluctance to take or follow medical advice is a major factor in the way protection policies are underwritten.

Men’s unwillingness to seek medical advice may well be contributory to published statistics, which show that they make more claims on life assurance and critical illness policies, whereas women are more likely to claim for income protection. Women, it is thought, possibly take more care of themselves, as they tend to take the time off work in order to recover properly.

There is a definite difference in the health risk between men and women, particularly as they get older. Women tend to make more claims on private medical insurance policies under the age of 50, especially during childbearing years, but over the age of 50 claims from men take over, as the risk of coronary heart disease becomes higher.

Research into healthcare protection products shows men are more likely to buy these products than women, but statistics may be influenced by the fact that men still tend to make these decisions on behalf of their families, rather than themselves.

Healthcare providers are becoming more aware that the trend towards preventive health measures continues to grow, and men’s needs can be addressed, with some providers offering a range of health screens as an additional option to a policy.

Early detection can significantly improve someone’s chance of recovering from a serious illness and health screens also offer lengthy consultation time with a doctor to discuss nagging health concerns or lifestyle changes that may affect well-being later in life.

Although it is not possible to ensure that people are proactive in keeping their health in check, it is essential to offer them the chance to insure against ill health, and to advise them of the risks they could face if they do not take care of themselves.

The facts - at a glance

1 in 3 men between the ages of 40 and 70 will develop a critical illness - that's 32 in every 100 men. Out of those 32 men:-

• 15 will develop Cancer
• 10 will have a Heart Attack
• 5 will suffer a Stroke
• 2 will have Coronary Artery By-Pass Surgery

1 in 4 women between the ages of 40 and 70 will develop critical illness, that's 25 in every 100 women. Out of those 25 women:-

• 17 will develop Cancer
• 3 will have a Heart Attack
• 3 will suffer a Stroke
• 1 will have Coronary By-Pass Surgery
• 1 will develop Multiple Sclerosis

Source: Munich Re (2002)