Kuya J's Diary Episode 14 - Health: A Matter of Choice

Health: A Matter of Choice

Many of my friends have been negligent in practicing healthy lifestyle because of the testimonies of their relatives that had lived long enough despite being exposed to different kinds of vices; smoking, drinking, obesity, sex, and all other kinds of vices.
While all these people are optimistic, they are making a fundamental mistake: They are not taking responsibility for their own health.

Yet if modern medical wisdom has made anything clear, it is this: Our own choices, our own lifestyles have an impact on our lives – and deaths.

As a biology major, consider first the myths.

Heredity

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It is certainly true that heredity plays a role in lifespan; long-lived families tend to produce long-lived offspring. But there is no way of telling whether any one individual has inherited the particular characteristics that make a difference. Furthermore, since the choices we make can undo that difference, we can waste what nature has given us.

Current Medicine

No one denies that modern technology has rescued many people who would have died in an earlier era; smallpox, for example, once a major killer, has been eradicated worldwide. Even so, however, some medical thinkers attribute no more than three percent of the decline in the incidence of a disease to medicine.

Future medicine

This is the biggest illusion of all, putting of one’s fate in the hand of a genie in a bottle who will grant our wish. Some diseases may, in fact, forever resist human control. And even when new methods are identified, testing, verification, and marketing take years. Are we wise to believe there will be fewer than the years we have? Are we still alive to witness such evolution of medicine? Are you willing to take that risk and roll your dice on that matter?

Counter these myths with the recommendations of the experts. The fact that these recommendations appeal also to common sense makes them not one whit less valid.

First

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We are told, regular, lifelong activity is essential. The increase in recent years of the number of people jogging, hiking, and joining health clubs attests to a growing awareness of its importance.

Not only does regular activity stimulate the body’s pulmonary and cardiovascular processes, but recent evidence also suggests it may have other benefits.

Second

The reorientation of the diet away from processed foods, fatty meats, and high cholesterol foods to fresh foods, whole grains, and fruits and vegetables. Fortunately, too many of the dietary recommendations that decrease the risk of heart disease may also help in the prevention of cancer.

Lastly

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Exercise and diet contribute to health; the third and perhaps the most important step means avoiding known causes of death. The warning on the cigarette box is unequivocal:

“Cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health.” and recently “Cigarette smoking kills.”

Besides the obvious potential danger of lung cancer, emphysema, or other lung disorders, there are other known results: other kinds of cancers – mouth, esophagus, bladder – heart disease, and ulcers. And the warning about the excessive use of alcohol is also clear: an increased risk of accident, of liver disease, of brain damage.

It has and will always continue to bother me why many people still indulge in such obvious risk. The overall message shouts to be heard and fortunately, people seem to be hearing it, slowly but starting to internalize it.

Conclusion

The responsibility for our own health does not lie in our genes or in the medical establishment, present or future; it lies with us, in our choices. As the famous saying says,

“Prevention is better than cure.”

And now I think we can finally say “Yes” to longer, healthier lives by what we do with them now.

References

All images except the one with citation are all taken from pixabay.com

Thank you for your time reading this and please look forward to my next episode. If you enjoyed it, you might also like to read my other posts on the link provided below.