Healthplus With Dr Hanna (MBBS, MRCS): Your Health!

• Written by Dr Uwakwe-mangse Hanna

         Dr Uwakwe-mangse Hanna (MBBS, MRCS)

 

What is health and what do you understand by health?

 

 

To an average man on the street, health is whenever one wakes up in the morning and is able to stretch himself/herself and get out of bed.

 

May be to some it means being able run around without any headache nor stomach ache.

 

To be honest before my medical school, health to me means no physical pain.

 

Health in general and by WHO standard means a state of “complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.

 

This definition has met its fair share of controversy based on various words used.

 

I am not here to bore you with medical jargons but will love to ask one simple question. How healthy are you? How is your community, environment impacting on your wellbeing? What is your background and how does your lifestyle, economic and social aspect of your life determine the state of your health?

 

And before I forget how is your spiritual life? Yes spirituality has a lot of influence in determining the state of your health.

 

Before you start screaming spirituality, it’s been known that stress can affect human health and spiritual people who are able to unwind with whatever belief system they have live longer than stressed faithless one.

 

There are so many determinant factors in life that affects our health and they are:

 

- Income and social status. The richer and higher earners tend to have an edge here as they are more likely to be more educated and more prone to going for medical check-ups and having early diagnosis of their disease.

 

- Social support networks. The more socially connected you are the more likely you are to be healthy (not the facebook kind LOL)

- Education and literacy plays an important role in healthy living. This is undebatable in all ramifications.

 

- Employment and working conditions. Are you getting job satisfaction where you are working at the moment or do you wake up daily wondering why you are going to work? Are you just in your job because it pays your bill? This may be the beginning of a declining health on your part as your level of stress will be multiplied and this in turn cause all manner of illness such as hypertension, Diabetes etc…

 

- Social and physical environments play major role in our health. Needless to explain why. It’s a case of using the western countries and third world countries as a comparison. Nigeria need to do more on this.  

- Personal health practices and coping skills. Pettiness kills. Live freely and don’t take things too serious. You only live this life once. No grudge bearing, don’t be jealous and envious and when something bad happens learn to cope with the situation and move on (very easy to say but truly it helps).

 

- Biology and genetics are determinants that can’t be altered unfortunately. Some people are born with generational oncogenes (cancer genes) or various disease genes that can’t be altered. In western countries such people are traced from their parents and relative and given prophylactic measures ranging from oophorectomy, mastectomy (removal of their ovaries and breast respectively) to regular endoscopies and blood test.

 

- Healthcare services. This is where I falter my country Nigeria. Our life expectancy is so low compared to our supposedly GDP. Nations with better healthcare do have higher life expectancy and better health.

 

- Gender. It’s proven, women have better health than men. Some say its hormonal, others say it’s because women tend to have better coping mechanism than men and are more prone to seek medical help and understanding of their disease.

 

- Culture. Some cultural practices and food affect health negatively. This will be discussed later. Watch this space.

 

I intentionally left Mental Health in today’s topic as it’s a broad topic and will be dealt with.

 

Bottom line know your health and watch out of for factors that may affect it negatively and deal with it. For those that drive cars and other machinery, you understand the need for MOT or servicing your cars and machineries. Why not do same to your body.

 

How often do you go for regular check-ups in a good hospital? Prevention is better than cure. Is there any family disease such as diabetes, hypertension etc… Have you checked yourself up? Have you read around the topics so as to alter your dietary habits and increase your exercise level?

 

There is no witch in your village attacking you, go get yourself tested. You can have the best of health if you can start by changing the way you live your life.

 

The chances are you will live longer by burning your ignorance and embracing knowledge. It’s your health, so invest in it.

 

 http://skytrendnews.com/index.php/column/monday-column/10413-healthplus-with-dr-hanna-mbbs-mrcs-your-health