The decade now drawing to a close has featured more than a few health-related news stories that have seemed just a tad overblown. As a public service, DrRich has carefully selected the Top 10 Most Overblown Health Stories of the Past Decade, and has patiently counted them down for your consideration.

And at last, DrRich proudly presents -

The Most Overblown Health Story of the Decade:

The Pandemic of the Century

The century is only a decade old, but remarkably, we've already had at least three candidates for Pandemic of the Century. And since the century promises nine more decades, it seems likely we'll end up with another 25 or 30 candidates when it's finally time to vote. (DrRich, for one, is preparing his absentee ballot.) Here's the story.

The decade now drawing to a close has featured more than a few health-related news stories that have seemed just a tad overblown. As a public service, DrRich has carefully selected the Top 10 Most Overblown Health Stories of the Past Decade, and now presents them for your consideration.

The countdown continues with:

#2: Demonizing Obesity

This past decade has seen remarkable strides in our ability to work ourselves up into a lather about obesity - and the obese. DrRich shows how the anti-obesity movement has exaggerated the problem, and in the process has stigmatized a substantial proportion of our population - and how by doing so it is setting a disturbing precedent.

The exact cause of actress Brittany Murphy's tragic sudden death yesterday is still to be determined officially. Sudden death in apparently healthy young people is fortunately very rare - but sadly, it does occur. And while most of these sudden deaths in young people occur during athletic events, some will occur with normal activities, or even during sleep.

Previously unrecognized heart abnormalities are responsible for most sudden deaths in young people. A variety of cardiac conditions may, under certain circumstances, cause the heart beat to go out of control, and into a heart rhythm known as ventricular fibrillation (VF). VF invariably produces a sudden cardiac arrest, and unless the victim is successfully resuscitated within minutes, death ensues.

This article discusses the cardiac conditions that produce sudden death in young people. It specifically addresses sudden death in young athletes (since most VF in young people is triggered by exertion), but the cardiac conditions described in this article also pertain to young individuals who die suddenly while they are not exercising.

In Ms. Murphy's case, the scheduled autopsy may help in determining whether she had one of these cardiac conditions, though with some of these conditions the heart is anatomically normal, and the diagnosis would not be apparent during a typical autopsy. In these instances, DNA testing can be helpful in providing the answer.

The decade now drawing to a close has featured more than a few health-related news stories that have seemed just a tad overblown. As a public service, DrRich has carefully selected the Top 10 Most Overblown Health Stories of the Past Decade, and now presents them for your consideration.

The countdown continues with:

#3: Preventive Medicine Saves Money

A prominent story which we hear over and over is that a renewed and reinvigorated preventive medicine initiative will not only improve the health of our nation, but will also drastically reduce the cost of our healthcare. Unfortunately, this assertion is not only overblown, but is fundamentally wrong. And we're already beginning to see the consequences of using preventive medicine primarily as a cost-saving venture. DrRich explains.