EXPLORE BOOK OF ODDS
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Surprising odds. Unlikely stories. Everyday things you’ve never thought to question.
The latest stories
How Rare Is Tetanus in the US?
CDC surveillance shows an average of 26.8 US tetanus cases a year from 2009 to 2023, and 18 in 2023, about 1 in 18.6 million people.
Read the story →How Many US Kids Have Cavities?
In 2017 to March 2020, 11.1% of US children ages 2 to 5 had untreated decay in their baby teeth, and 50.1% of those ages 6 to 9 had ever had tooth decay.
Read the story →Broken Heart Syndrome
It’s a timeworn theme, dying of a broken heart. The book of Proverbs recognized that “by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken” (Proverbs 15:13). In Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, a…
Read the story →Food and Cancer
Can eating right prevent cancer? The odds a person will ever be diagnosed with cancer are 1 in 2.44, and the odds a person will die of it are 1 in 4.7.…
Read the story →Which Cancers Are Deadliest in the US?
Lung cancer causes the most US cancer deaths, a projected 124,990 in 2026; of SEER's common sites, pancreatic has the lowest five year survival, 13.7%.
Read the story →Hollywood’s Juicy Fruit, Starving on the Vine
Even a partial list of body image problems that a child may run up against can be petrifying—anorexia nervosa, bulimia, body dysmorphic disorder, severe calorie restriction, low self esteem, self…
Read the story →The Very High Odds of Hypertension
Just having our blood pressure tested can raise it. Hearts tend to speed up as the nurse squeezes the upper arm into a black cuff, tightened with Velcro, to measure…
Read the story →Vitamins: Money Down the Toilet?
Most medical research suggests that vitamins are a good way to create expensive pee. Many of us take them anyway. Fifty-three percent of men swallow a multivitamin at least once…
Read the story →Space: Still the Final Frontier
Ask any American which country is the greatest in the world, and he’ll answer without hesitation. Ask him why, and he’ll likely respond, “What? You’d rather live in (fill in…
Read the story →The Odds of Dating a Supermodel
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady missed almost all of the 2008 season after tearing his ACL in the year’s first game. A torn ACL is a painful injury, and…
Read the story →The odds an ever-married or cohabiting man has cheated during the relationship
1 in 4.76 The odds an ever-married or cohabiting man has cheated during the relationship are 1 in 4.76 (US, 8/2004). SOURCE(S) American Sex Survey: A Peek Beneath the Sheets.…
Read the story →How Many Married US Men Use Condoms?
In NSFG 2022 to 2023 data, 15.6% of married US men aged 15 to 49 who had sex in the past year used a condom the last time, about 1 in 6.4.
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