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Ashely Alker, MDJanuary 11, 2026 at 8:46 PM

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Surprisingly Common and Deadly Hidden Hazards of Daily Life

My medical degree might say "emergency medicine doctor," but most days I feel more like a board-certified death escapologist.

I've worked in healthcare all over the world and confront death daily. Every time evolution rears its ugly head in the form of a table saw without a safety stop or a loaded gun stored in a front pocket, I'm on the frontlines. And I've seen it all, but some life-threatening accidents more than others. I'm also passionate about public health and preventive care, so even though it’s bad for business, I help people avoid emergency department visits by educating them about hidden risks in everyday life.

Here are 10 lethal dangers that are commonly encountered but often overlooked. If you're determined to avoid a life-threatening accident, my book, 99 Ways to Die: And How to Avoid Them, provides a roadmap.

10 Surprising Yet Common Ways To Die and How To Avoid Them, According to an ER DoctorStrep Throat

Strep throat is caused by group A streptococcus infecting the throat and tonsils. Group A strep is a bacterium killed by plain old penicillin, although other antibiotics are commonly used. While antibiotics may help with strep throat symptoms, this isn't the primary reason we give them. Most healthy people will likely recover from strep throat without incident. Still, the complications of untreated strep throat can kill you, causing peritonsillar abscess, rheumatic fever, post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (PSGN), and scarlet fever.

Brain Aneurysm

It’s estimated that up to 6 percent of the adult population is walking around with brain aneurysms, and most have no idea. A ruptured brain aneurysm leading to subarachnoid hemorrhage is fatal in about half of patients. Fortunately, most aneurysms are asymptomatic and will not rupture in a patient’s lifetime. But how do you know if you have a brain aneurysm that is about to rupture? A sentinel bleed is often the herald of doom. It's a small leak of blood cells from the aneurysm, like a pinhole spouting a scant sprinkle from that water balloon. The brain is very sensitive to blood outside of blood vessels, so even a tiny leak causes a thunderclap headache, which is a sudden-onset thunderbolt to the brain, causing the most severe headache in one’s life. A thunderclap headache can bring patients to their knees within seconds, causing vomiting and light sensitivity.

Pregnancy

According to the World Health Organization, around three hundred thousand women die annually from pregnancy-related complications. In the U.S., mortality is much higher in African American and Hispanic populations. For example, preeclampsia is 60 percent higher in Black women, and they are more likely to experience poor outcomes. In their review of maternal mortality, the U.S. Maternal Mortality Review Committees determined that more than 80 percent of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. were preventable.

Lily of the valley (Getty)Houseplants

Assume anything with “lily” in it is poisonous: calla lily, peace lily, lily of the valley, etc. These are traditional funeral flowers in many cultures, which is oddly appropriate since they can be deadly. They do smell lovely, but in case you were considering it, do not eat them. Lily of the valley contains arrhythmia-inducing cardiac glycosides, and calla and peace lilies contain calcium oxalate crystals that cause pain and swelling of the mouth and throat with ingestion, blocking the airway. Other poisonous houseplants include tulips, irises, and rhododendrons — know what you are bringing home in your bouquet. While flowers might not be on your menu, kids and pets might think they look delicious.

Sexually Transmitted Infections

Syphilis is making an unfortunate comeback, with reported cases increasing 80 percent between 2018 and 2022. Historically, everybody who’s anybody had syphilis, from Oscar Wilde to Al Capone. Did you know Casanova was a real person? The Italian explorer, known for his artful seduction technique of paying sex workers, Casanova had syphilis, genital herpes, and a lot of gonorrhea. In his autobiography, aka diary, he states he didn’t use condoms because he didn’t like “shutting [himself] up in a piece of dead skin to prove that [he was] well and truly alive.” Right, like women haven’t heard that before. Syphilis, treated with simple penicillin, causes life-threatening disease in newborns and can lead to brain infection and death in adults if left untreated.

Over-the-Counter Medications

Acetaminophen, commonly known as the brand Tylenol in the U.S., is a ubiquitous, seemingly innocuous medication that is deadly in overdose, and is the most common cause of acute liver failure in the United States. No adult should ever take more than 4,000 mg, or four grams, of acetaminophen in 24 hours. But acetaminophen dosing is weight-based, so the limits are lower for smaller people, and it's also lower for adults with liver dysfunction. Children should only be dosed with acetaminophen based on their current weight and the medication instructions. In an overdose, there is a treatment, but it has to be administered at the hospital, and you have to get there immediately.

Detail shot of a carbon monoxide alarm or CO warning device in a basket of firewood in an apartment in front of a fireplace, selective focusLack of Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Carbon monoxide is a gas that is inhaled, passes through the lung tissue to the blood, and then blocks oxygen from getting to your vital organs, causing stroke and swift death. Only 14 U.S. states require hotels to have CO detectors, and this does not apply to home rentals. Even daycares aren’t federally required to have them, leading to the 2022 poisoning of 24 children at Happy Smile Learning Center in Pennsylvania. Twenty-eight states now require CO detectors in homes, but many of these laws only apply to newly built homes, which is why more than half of U.S. homes do not have CO detectors, meaning you probably don’t have one. Smoke detectors, present in more than 90 percent of U.S. homes, often lack CO detectors.

Water

Although we all know we can drown in it, most people don’t know that drinking water can kill you. Hyponatremia occurs when a person drinks more water than their kidneys can excrete. Adult kidneys can excrete about 20 liters of water daily but cannot exceed 1 liter per hour. Rapid or excessive water intake will reduce blood salt concentration, particularly sodium. When the concentration of sodium in the blood decreases rapidly, it can be dangerous, causing brain swelling, seizures, and death. This may have been what killed actor Bruce Lee, and in 2023, caused actress Brooke Shields to have a seizure.

Anaphylaxis at School

The nine major food allergens identified by the US Food and Drug Administration are milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. While any food can cause an allergy, these are the most common. Food manufacturers must list these ingredients on the packaging as allergens.

Surprisingly, EpiPens are not required in most schools, where as many as 25 percent of children will have their first allergic reaction. As of 2022, only 14 states require EpiPens in schools, so parents should check whether their school has one. If not, stock your own EpiPen in the nurse’s office.

Botulism

Botulism is everywhere. C. botulinum bacterial spores are very common in soil and dust worldwide, but are mostly harmless in this form. Botulism is only a problem when it is activated in low-acid, low-oxygen environments, like in home-canned goods or a baby’s underdeveloped intestinal tract. This is why babies under one year of age cannot have honey: it's known to contain Botulism spores, and why infant formula must be made under strict regulations that prevent contamination. As of November 2025, ByHeart has recalled its formula due to a botulism contamination, causing an estimated 83 cases of potentially lethal infantile botulism.

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