Certain diseases affect humans but often choose to remain latent for a long period of time. In most cases these sicknesses will not manifest until adulthood. By the time they manifest, the diseases might have progressed to the end stage, often leading to death.
I have had a friend who was sick of kidney diseases that stayed in her body for years without being noticed. By the time the condition manifested, it was already at stage 4 of the disease, from which no human is known to recover. If this has been detected from the first or second stage, it makes management of the disease easier; it could prolong life as well, and some people have been known to heal off totally of the same disease. While hers manifested while she was in her 40s, some others will not manifest until one gets to his retirement age in his late 60s or thereabouts.
I have learnt several lessons from bringing my brother here weekly for his own checkup. Some of the things I have encountered are very important, and I thought to share the highlights of these with our communities.
Adulthood Diseases
The majority of the sick people here are adults and retired pensioners. Who had come to the hospital solely on their own with no family members to assist them? Some claim that their children are busy with work and cannot even spare time to follow them to the hospital.
A handful of the persons here suffered from Parkinson's disease and some other conditions. Adults who can not even hold files are not to take their clinic cards or drugs. It was a helpless situation for most of them. Looking back, I realized that they must have lived the same kind of lifestyle as their children, prioritizing their work/career over their health. Hence most of the sicknesses they now suffered could have been prevented.
- Tuberculosis is one of the sicknesses that can easily be treated and cleaned out of one's system when detected early, but because they equally act as one of those latent diseases, adulthood is when these diseases manifest; hence, only retired and aged adults suffer the consequences of a disease that would have been gotten rid of earlier. Some of the adults here suffer from TB, and when the symptom becomes contagious, they get shut out (isolated) for the rest of their lives.
Nobody should suffer this fate. Early detection and treatment should be prioritized.
Adequate Rest, Sleep, and Exercise.
It is an obviously known fact that humans are one of the most active species of being. Unless we decide to not do any work, there is always something to be done. We are either pursuing a physical job, a mental task, or all manner of activities. Not many are aware that the working body is also like unto a machine and can break down at any time. The body needs servicing and refreshing, which we often ignore in the pursuit to meet up with time and schedules.
Many are not aware of the benefits of physical exercise and rest.
They work for hours, giving their bodies a little rest in sleep when they are at the brink of collapsing and their system can no longer work.
Take it or leave it. One cannot be completely done with one's life activities/jobs/tasks; in the midst of the work, we are expected to take a break, rest, and take care of our bodies. Overstraining the brain can cause mental conditions in adulthood. A lot of adults are having high blood pressure today due to exposure to prolonged stress. Migraine headaches set in, and we suffer from sicknesses that we could have prevented.
Good diet, fluids, and fruits.
I wonder how many people have access to nutritious meals and fruits. A lot of people are more concerned about saving more money compared to eating healthy meals from the little resources they have. We now grow millionaires who suffer from a lack of certain vital vitamins and minerals in their bodies. They have been exposed to eating junk all their youthful days, and now the sickness they suffer from could have been prevented by the presence of certain vitamins their body is lacking.
These are the possible challenges one can face in adulthood when we choose to ignore consistent and vital medical health checkups.
It is highly commendable of the hospital that constant sensitization is ongoing here on a daily basis to patients, caregivers, and people who visit the hospital. While we were seated, a campaign was held about Parkinson's disease, which made me realize why some of the men seated beside me were having a shaky hand.
Important health matters about various health challenges and how to identify symptoms of concern are being taught to people on a consistent basis, and I believe that visiting the hospital premises or reading about certain of these conditions online is a good hands-on and preventative measure against some of these deadly diseases people suffer in adulthood.