We live in an age of information overload. Television and radio, newspapers and magazines, advertisements and commercials, Internet blogs, and chat rooms inundate us with continuous coverage and sometimes frightening messages on a variety of topics—including health. Security and well-being seem ever at risk, or so it would appear.
While the word tyranny usually characterizes cruel and ruthless governments, censorship, and suppression of basic rights, it isn't a stretch to associate tyranny with disease as well.
Contagion, hereditary and gender-specific diseases, aging, contamination, and conditions linked to stress grip many people with fear. Conversations about illness are part of water-cooler chatter at work and discussions among family members and friends. Disease itself seems to hold many people hostage.
