Sweat the Small Stuff

I was in Barnes and Noble the other day when I came across Richard Carlson’s book, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff... and it’s all Small Stuff, which became a best seller. It was USA Today's bestselling book for two consecutive years and spent over 100 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list. He went on to write a series of books based on not sweating the small stuff.
 
It made me think – there must be some small stuff we should sweat. I did a little digging and… now I don’t want to frighten anyone… but some small stuff is worth sweating. Here’s my list:
 

1. Viruses. Viruses are small things. They consist of a nucleic acid molecule in a protein coat – too small to be seen by a regular microscopy. They can be nasty small fry. They include Ebola, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Marburg, rabies, smallpox, Dengue and influenza (flu). Might want to sweat viruses.
2. Bacteria. Bacteria are tiny creatures, typically a few micrometers in length. And here’s the thing… they’re everywhere. Not all bacteria are harmful but some like anthrax, bubonic plague, tuberculosis, and pneumonia are. Others cause serious diseases like cholera, diphtheria, bacterial meningitis  and syphilis. Watch out for these small stuffers.
3. Unprotected sex. Condoms are small but smaller still are the sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) caused by unprotected sex. Here’s a list to name a few: Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Herpes, HIV/AIDS, Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Syphilis, Bacterial Vaginosis and Trichomoniasis. So let’s all sweat the small condoms.
4. Cancer. Cancer cells are small but usually there are small symptoms. There are more than 100 types of cancer including carcinomas (skin), sarcomas (bone and soft tissues), Osteosarcoma (bone) leukemias (bone marrow), Hodgkin lymphoma and Non-Hodgkin and Melanoma (skin). So if you see a small and strange growth on your skin, or feel a lump… sweat it.
5.  Mosquitoes. These tiny insects bug me. They sneak in and suck your blood before you even know you’re a victim. They transmit diseases like malaria, dengue, West Nile virus, yellow fever, encephalitis and Zita fever. I certainly sweat theses mall things. Use insect repellant.

 
I’m not trying to be an alarmist, but there is some small stuff that needs to be sweated.
 
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