In your lifetime you will...

Have you ever considered how many times you'll do one thing in your lifetime? Like how many friends you'll make or how many headaches you'll suffer from? Or even how many hours you'll spend in the shower? Well a new study aims to find out for you by exploring how many times people do certain things, offering an interesting cross section for comparison between what you and every one else does.

The study, conducted by ActiveQuote.com - an independent comparison site on private health insurance - is interested in questions about lifestyle habits and polled 3000 adults in an effort to find out how many times a "normal" person might do one thing. For instance, among other findings, the survey revealed that an average person will suffer from 6282 common aliments during their lifetime.

The recent study also showed that the average person will put up with at least 80 ailments including headaches, cramp, back pain and common colds every single year. It also revealed that the fourth most common ailment was pulled muscles, which reportedly pain Britons alone at least nine times a year; 707 over a lifetime. Fifth in the list of upsets is a cricked neck - set off by simple movements such as sleeping in an unusual position or brushing teeth - which results in five 'cricks' a year, or 393 over 78.5 years.

Other complaints on the sick list include tummy upsets, nose bleeds and strained or sprained wrists and ankles. The results show the average person will have a total of 315 tummy upsets, 157 nose bleeds and 236 strains or sprains in their lifetime.

Click on image for larger view

What if you're healthy?

Ironically, more than half of those polled believe they are fit and healthy, but have still suffered from two common colds, two cuts, an eye infection, earache, a bad dose of flu and heartburn over the last 12 months alone.

Richard Theo, Director of ActiveQuote.com said: "While the ailments may seem minor, this survey shows just how disruptive they can be - and this figure doesn't take into account more serious illnesses, which of course can massively affect your life and keep out of work for weeks if not months.

"This is borne out by our business. Yes, many are turning to us simply to scour the entire market to find a better deal, but we're also seeing a growing number of enquiries from people considering private health insurance for the first time. They tell us that they just cannot afford the disruption to their lives if a problem strikes - they want peace of mind."

Theo continued: "According to CIPD figures, 172 million days were lost last year due to absenteeism, which was estimated to cost the UK economy about GBP£13.2 billion."

But if peace of mind is really what you're after, you could do worse than to remember that the next time you lose the TV remote, eat a chocolate bar or have a headache, millions of other people around the world are doing the same thing too.

Jodie Humphries

Jodie Humphries graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA Hons in Creative Writing in 2008. She has worked for GDS Publishing for the digital group since July 2009. She has previous experience with writing for the web, running her own website since April 2007.

Like this article? Get the RSS feed: