Protect yourself and your family by adopting a “healthy body– healthy mind” attitude.
Healthy Lifestyles Awareness Day
We’ve all heard the hype around “healthy mind – healthy body”, but what does this really mean, and what impact does it have to you and your health?
With the 17th of February being “Healthy Lifestyles Awareness Day”, we would like to tackle the issues around lifestyle and illness from an Emergency Services perspective.
There is a long list of ailments and illnesses with associated onset relating to unhealthy living, and more particularly, unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise. Every day we transport patients by ambulance, and see patients who are in hospital with various ailments and illnesses. One of the diseases with more and more reported cases per day, and which is now being called an epidemic, is Diabetes Type 2.
Diabetes Type 2 is the preventable type of diabetes, with only a small percentage of cases relating to family history and genetics. The cause is almost always related to a diet high in sugar, fats and a lack of daily physical exercise. With the body having to convert these sugars at a high rate every day using insulin, cells become increasingly resistant to taking up the sugars to use them as required, and the sugars then stay in the blood stream. By not being physically active, the metabolism slows down, promoting the body to store more fats, thereby impacting the problem.
Once Diabetes Type 2 is diagnosed, a person will need to start taking chronic medication, which will aid in the uptake of the sugars so that the body may still be able to use them. Every cell in the body uses these for energy, and if the cells do not obtain the required amount, they will be unable to work at their optimum.
The most important organ to consider in the body with regards to healthy living is the heart. When you are depriving your body of appropriate nutrition or you are living an unhealthy lifestyle, the heart suffers the most. The heart needs the best care in order to keep the other organs functioning as they should.
Simply changing your mind set when it comes to health, nutrition and exercise can prevent onset of chronic illness or at least significantly reduce the possibility of getting a chronic illness that could have been otherwise prevented.
Take the necessary steps today to protect yourself and your family by adopting a “healthy body – healthy mind” attitude.
Vanessa Jackson, ER24
