Billy Joel said that only the good die young but lately a lot more than that are dying before they've led a full life. Dr. Jan Garavaglia, a mortician with a show on the Discovery Health channel, says that over 70% of the bodies she sees in the morgue are premature and shouldn't be there. (Premature death occurs when a person dies of a cause other than old age.)A revealing study done in the U.S. by Duke University found that over one million of the 2.4 million U.S. deaths in 2010 could have been avoided if alternative choices had been made. An obvious conclusion of the study is that improving personal choices may be an effective way of saving lives. The good news is that we have a great deal of control over our own mortality. After living in a dozen countries and earning an accounting degree, Toby Welch followed her dream of becoming a writer. Since penning an article in 2003 on travelling to Saudi Arabia, Toby has published over 340 articles in magazines and newspapers and another 400+ pieces online. She is addicted to the rush of creating e-books and has published 74 of them under her own name and a pseudonym. Toby finds inspiration in jazz music, impressionist artwork, and Toblerone

Mode of access: World Wide Web